Mind Matrix Research Paper

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Appendix D

Pragmatism, Analytic Philosophy, and Philosophy of Mind Matrix

In the matrix below, describe the historical development, key contributors, and principle issues of pragmatism, analytic philosophy, and the Philosophy of Mind.

Pragmatism Analytic Philosophy Philosophy of Mind
Historical Development Pragmatism arose as the most sophisticated attempt to reconcile science and religion in the wake of the widespread acceptance of Darwinian biology The analytic program in philosophy is ordinarily dated to the work of English philosophers Bertrand Russell and G. E. Moore in the early 20th century. They turned away from then-dominant forms of Hegelianism (objecting in particular to its idealism and purported
obscurity) and began to develop a new sort of conceptual analysis, based on new developments in logic.
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Key Contributors Key players: Charles Sanders Pierce (first to state the pragmatic maxim); Joseph Margolis; Quine; Bertrand Russell; William James; John Dewey; George Herbert Mead...pragmatists were inspired by Kant, Thomas Reid, and Hume (among others.)
Key issues: Those who adhere to pragmatism usually believe that practical consequences or real effects are vital components of both meaning and truth. Other aspects include anti-Cartesians, radical empiricism, instrumentalism, anti-realism, verifications, conceptual relativity, a denial of the fact-value distinction, a high regard for science, and fallibilism.
Their thought process is influenced by Darwinism. It challenges the belief that action and knowledge are in separate spheres--and therefore that theory and practice are not in separate spheres. They believe that truth is mutable. Philosophical
tradition that emphasizes the logical analysis of concepts and the study of the language in which they are expressed. It has been the dominant approach in philosophy in the English-speaking world from the early 20th century. With respect to its problems, methods, and style, it is often contrasted with Continental philosophy, though the significance of the opposition has been widely challenged. Analytic philosophers have differed regarding the nature of so-called "ordinary" language and the methodological value of appeals to ordinary usage in the logical analysis of concepts. Those known as formalists hold that, because ordinary language is potentially a source of conceptual confusion, philosophy and science should be conducted in a logically transparent formal language based on modern mathematical, or symbolic, logic. Those known as in formalists reject this view, arguing that attempts to "improve" ordinary language in this way inevitably oversimplify or falsify it, thereby creating conceptual confusion of just the sort that the formalists are concerned to avoid. Three figures conventionally recognized as founders of the tradition are Gottlob Frege, G.E. Moore, and Bertrand Russell. Other major figures include Ludwig Wittgenstein, A.J. Ayer, Rudolf Carnap, J.L. Austin, W.V.O. Quine, and David Lewis (1941 '' 2001). • Some of the most interesting: Descartes, Husserl, Heidegger, Wittgenstein, GEM Anscombe, Donald Davidson, Saul Kripke, Hillary Putnam, Daniel Dennett.

Principle Issues The pragmatist proceeds from the basic premise that the human capability of theorizing is integral to intelligent practice.
Theory and practice are not separate spheres; rather, theories and distinctions are tools or maps for finding our way in the world. As John Dewey put it, there is no question of theory versus practice but rather of intelligent practice versus uninformed, stupid practice and noted in a conversation with William Pepperell Montague that "[h]is effort had not been to practicalize intelligence but to intellectualize practice". (Quoted in Eldridge 1998, p. 5) Theory is an abstraction from direct experience and ultimately must return to inform experience in turn. Thus an organism navigating his or her environment is the grounds for pragmatist
inquiry. acceptance of "ordinary language," (as distinct from the continental tradition, where philosophers develop their own technical vocabularies), defense of the "common sense" view of the world said to be implicit in ordinary language, and a preference for arguing over micro rather than macro issues. Philosophy of mind deals with the nature of the mind and its relationship to the body, and is typified by disputes between dualism and materialism In recent years there has been increasing similarity between this branch of philosophy and cognitive science.