Defense Date

1-11-2018

Graduation Date

Spring 5-11-2018

Availability

One-year Embargo

Submission Type

dissertation

Degree Name

PhD

Department

Philosophy

School

McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts

Committee Chair

James Swindal

Committee Member

Tom Rockmore

Committee Member

Dan Selcer

Keywords

Semantic Realism, Conceptual Realism, Discourse Theory, Objective Idealism, Historicism, Historicity, Inferentialism, Relativism, the Absolute, Hegelianism, the Divide

Abstract

The thesis of this dissertation is that Habermas’ universal pragmatic and the recent neo-pragmatist semantic realism of Brandom, aimed at bridging the divide, are both based on misinterpretations of Hegel. Both approaches misunderstand the central Hegelian idea of historicity, and thus fail to establish a correct connection to Hegel. The aim of the dissertation is to point to and sketch Hegel’s idea of historicity. As part of the discussion, I will defend the controversial thesis that Hegel did not have a system, but rather a historical account of how we develop knowledge under the historical conditions of society. Hegel, unlike Brandom or Habermas, thinks that philosophy does not seek knowledge of reality, where ‘reality’ is understood as the mind-independent world. Reality as such is unknown and unknowable, since it is limited through human experience of social and historical reality.

Language

English

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