The article reconstructs three key concepts of hans vaihinger. Hans vaihinger is currently considered a single author. Hans vaihinger 18521933 was a neokantian philosopher, who made. Hans vaihinger was eminently qualified to begin kantstudien. Buy the philosophy of as if international library of psychology, philosophy, and scienti by vaihinger, hans isbn. Hans vaihinger s most popular book is the philosophy of as if. Hans vaihinger 18521933 was a neokantian philosopher, who made important contributions to epistemology, philosophy of science and mathematics, and to the historiography of philosophy. He shows how each of these thinkers contributes to the emergence of the philosophy of asif, which is a mode of philosophizing that seeks to face squarely the epistemic implications.
Hans vaihinger, german philosopher who, influenced by arthur schopenhauer and f. A system of the theoretical, practical and religious fictions of mankind. This is an important book of one idea, but that idea is a very important one for the social scientist. Vaihingers philosophy of as if can be viewed as one of the central premises upon which george kellys. Theoretical, practical and religious hans vaihinger. Books by hans vaihinger author of the philosophy of as if. It aims to show that hans vaihinger s philosophy of as if has. A system of the theoretical, practical and religious fictions of mankind hans vaihinger, david g. Hans vaihinger has 38 books on goodreads with 455 ratings. This is a reprint of a 28 page article from a book called quests old and new by g. Vaihinger, hans article about vaihinger, hans by the. As a historian, vaihinger produced groundbreaking work on kants theoretical philosophy, especially on the transcendental aesthetic and transcendental. If you are looking for hans vaihinger s philosophy of as if, this book is not it. Vaihinger, who saw life as a maze of contradictions and philosophy as a search for means to make life livable, began by.
Vaihinger and nietzsche, the two most radical followers of kants philosophy of cognition in the. Vaihinger s philosophy of as if, and he built that concept into his psychology the following quotation is from the article alfred adler 1870 1937 by c. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. A system of the theoretical, practical and religious fictions of. Philosophy of as if the subtitle an idealistic positivism it is but one of the contradictions. In that book, vaihinger gave fictionalism its most complete expression and therefore, vaihinger s work is a fundamental reference for understanding the contemporary debate on that concept. Intended as part of my paper philosophy of modeling in 1870s.
One of the great kant scholars, in 1884 he went to halle, where he became full professor in 1892. Vaihinger provides here, i think, the clearest exposition of the thread that runs from the medieval nominalists, through hume, kant, and ultimately, nietzsche. Influenced by kants view that the mind sets itself problems that it cannot solve, and by the pessimism of schopenhauer, vaihinger denied that there is any prospect of achieving truth in many areas. A system of the theoretical, practical and philosophy and scientific method. It discusses the philosophy of as if from meads perspective and gives a brief introduction to vaihinger s ideas, but thats it. Another major influence on alfred adlers thinking was the philosopher hans vaihinger, who wrote a book called the philosophy of as if. Routledge and kegan paul 1924 abstract this article has no associated abstract. His religious inclinations began to change while at the stuttgart gymnasium where he became interested in pantheism and then, under the influence of darwin, in evolutionary philosophy. The philosophy of as if, which proposed that man willingly accept falsehoods or fictions in order to live peacefully in an irrational world. Oexebal introduction tlal1l1r i thoughtn considered from the poiot of view of a purporive organic fuuctiou.
It discusses the philosophy of as if from meads perspective and gives a brief introduction to vaihinger. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Appiah extends this strategy to examples across philosophy and the human and natural sciences. The philosophy of as if epistemology and metaphysics. Pdf this paper is a summary of a course taught at the university of trier in 2010. I suspect that by saying this about his book, hans vaihinger meant, in fact. Philosophy of as if philosophy britannica encyclopedia britannica. Vaihingers egen filosofi kaldes af ueberweg for idealistiskpragmatisk positivisme og nykantianisme.
As if kwame anthony appiah harvard university press. According to the author many thought processes and thought constructs appear to be consciously false assumptions, which either contradict reality or are even contradictory in themselves, but which are intentionally thus formed in order to overcome difficulties. He is remembered for his fictionalism or philosophy of as if. One of the foremost early twentiethcentury scholars of the german philosopher immanuel kant, vaihinger also conducted extensive philosophical. The philosopher hans vaihinger first delineated the as if impulse at the turn of the twentieth century, drawing on kant, who argued that rational agency required us to act as if we were free. Lange, developed kantianism in the direction of pragmatism by espousing a theory of fictions as the basis of what he called his as if philosophy. His studies of kant culminated in kantein metaphysiker.
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