The core of pragmatism lies in the concept of functional efficacy-of utility in short. And epistemic pragmatism accordingly focuses on the utility of our devices and practices in relation to the aims and purposes of the cognitive enterprise-answering questions, resolving puzzlement, guiding action. The present book revolves around this theme. All papers in this book bear on epistemological topics which have preoccupied Nicholas Rescher for many years. Much as with the thematic structure of this book, this interest expanded from an initial concern with the exact sciences, to encompass the epistemology of the human sciences, and ultimately the epistemology of philosophy itself.

Contenu

Chapter 1: Epistemic Pragmatism
Chapter 2: Linguistic Pragmatism
Chapter 3: On Cognitive Finitude and Limitations
Chapter 4: On Cognitive Economics
Chapter 5: The Uneasy Union of Ideality and Pragmatism in Inquiry
Chapter 6: On Inconsistency and Provisional Acceptance
Chapter 7: On Realism and the Problem of Transparent Facts
Chapter 8: On Fallacies of Aggregation
Chapter 9: Leibniz and the Conditions of Identity
Chapter 10: Worldly Woes: The Trouble with Possible Worlds
Chapter 11: Trigraphs: A Resource for Illustration In Philosophy
Chapter 12: Fragmentation and Disintegration in Philosophy
(Its Grounds and it Implications)