Pragmatic Perspectives in Phenomenology

by Ondrej Svec (Editor), Jakub Capek (Editor)

Overview

Pragmatic Perspectives in Phenomenology offers a complex analysis of the pragmatic theses that are present in the works of leading phenomenological authors, including not only Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty, as it is often the case within Hubert Dreyfus’ tradition, but also Husserl, Levinas, Scheler, and Patocka. Starting from a critical reassessment of existing pragmatic readings which draw especially on Heidegger’s account of Being-in-the-world, the volume’s chapters explore the following themes as possible justifications for speaking about the pragmatic turn in phenomenology: the primacy of the practical over theoretical understanding, criticism of the representationalist account of perception and consciousness, and the analysis of language and truth within the context of social and cultural practices. Having thus analyzed the pragmatic readings of key phenomenological concepts, the book situates these readings in a larger historical and thematic context and introduces themes that until now have been overlooked in debates, including freedom, alterity, transcendence, normativity, distance, and self-knowledge. This volume seeks to refresh the debate about the phenomenological legacy and its relevance for contemporary thought by enlarging the thematic scope of pragmatic motives in phenomenology in new and revealing ways. It will be of interest to advanced students and scholars of phenomenology who are interested in moving beyond the analytic-continental divide to explore the relationship between practice and theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367595005
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/30/2020
Series:	Routledge Research in Phenomenology
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Ondřej Švec is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. His publications include a book about phenomenology of emotions and various articles on lifeworld, historical conditions of objectivity, overcoming subjectivism in phenomenology and French historical epistemology.

Jakub Čapek is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. His areas of specialization cover twentieth-century German and French philosophy, especially phenomenology and hermeneutics, philosophy of action, philosophy of perception and questions of personal identity.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Localizing the Pragmatic Turn in Phenomenology Ondrej Švec Jakub Capek 1

Part I Contemporary Pragmatic Readings of Phenomenology 19

1 On Layer Cakes: Heidegger's Normative Pragmatism Revisited Mark Okrent 21

2 Heidegger's Pragmatist Readers Thomas Nenon 39

3 Primordiality and the Pragmata: A Critical Assessment of Rorty's Challenge to Heideggerian Nostalgia Andreas Beinsteiner 53

4 Two Forms of Practical Knowledge in Being and Time Tucker McKinney 70

5 Discursive Intentionality as Embodied Coping: A Pragmatist Critique of Existential Phenomenology Carl Sachs 87

Part II Pragmatic Readings Challenged by the History of Phenomenology 103

6 The Limits of Dreyfus' View of Husserl: Intentionality, Openness and Praxis Witold Plotka 105

7 On Dreyfus' Naturalization of Phenomenological Pragmatism: Misleading Dichotomies, and the Counter-Concept of Intentionality Sophie Loidolt 122

8 Perceptual Faith beyond Practical Involvement: Merleau-Ponty and His Pragmatist Readers Jakub Capek 141

9 Max Scheler and Pragmatism Zachary Davis 158

10 From Circumspection to Insight Eddo Evink 173

Part III Opening Up Perspectives 189

11 Freedom and the Theoretical Attitude James Mensch 191

12 The Primacy of Practice and the Pervasiveness of Discourse Ondrej Švec 205

13 Making Sense of Human Existence: Heidegger on the Limits of Practical Familiarity Mark A. Wathall 227

14 Exemplary Necessity: Heidegger, Pragmatism and Reason Steven Crowell 242

Contributors 257

Index 261

Editorial Reviews

"There are some excellent papers here that not only articulate the pragmatic turn in the history of phenomenology, but offer much-needed insight into the problems associated with long-standing pragmatic interpretations of the works of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty and Husserl." – Phenomenological Reviews

"The debate over the pragmatic turn in phenomenology is of the utmost significance since it will determine the future of the movement, and in this volume prominent philosophers examine the key positions and arguments that have been developing over at least a decade." – Michael D. Barber, St. Louis University, USA

From the Publisher