Kořeny pragmatismu: antimaterialismus, univerzální člověk, evolvující realita a pružné principy

• Authors: Radim Šíp

Title variants

EN

The  roots of pragmatism: Antimaterialism, universal man, evolving reality and flexible principles

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

The aim of the text is to explain the original background and conditions of pragmatism. The text traces four phases that greatly influenced its emergence. Firstly, the philosophical system of the most important American early-modern philosopher Jonathan Edwards is examined. The author shows how his system provides pragmatism with the notion of a reality in which relations are ontologically prior to entities. From the second phase, that is constituted by the ideas of Emerson, pragmatism inherited an emphasis on the power of humans. This enabled pragmatism to avoid predestination, one of the most important Calvinistic dogmas that had enclosed people in the cage of fate. The third phase was created by the arrival of Hegelianism into the USA that helped pragmatists grasp the reality of experience as a flux of ongoing historical stages that significantly determine the „ontological“ features of experience relations, institutions, the self-conception of both societies and individuals. The fourth phase was represented in the first works of members of „The Metaphysical Club“. There the last main tool of pragmatism was introduced i.e. the fluidity of principles that enable people to intelligently react to a problematic situation.

Keywords

EN

pragmatism

Discipline

• PHILOSOPHY: PHILOSOPHY

• Publisher: Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Filosofický časopis (Philosophical Journal)
• Year: 2010
• Volume: 58
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 841-862
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Radim Šíp

• Filosofický časopis, redakce, Filosofický ústav AV ČR, v.v.i., Jilská 1, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic