He is remembered for his fictionalism or philosophy of as if. A system of the theoretical, practical and religious fictions of mankind hans vaihinger, david g. 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. His studies of kant culminated in kantein metaphysiker. 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. Pdf this paper is a summary of a course taught at the university of trier in 2010. The article reconstructs three key concepts of hans vaihinger. Appiah extends this strategy to examples across philosophy and the human and natural sciences.
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. A system of the theoretical, practical and religious fictions of. Buy the philosophy of as if international library of psychology, philosophy, and scienti by vaihinger, hans isbn. Oexebal introduction tlal1l1r i thoughtn considered from the poiot of view of a purporive organic fuuctiou. 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. Another major influence on alfred adlers thinking was the philosopher hans vaihinger, who wrote a book called the philosophy of as if. Hans vaihinger, german philosopher who, influenced by arthur schopenhauer and f. This is a reprint of a 28 page article from a book called quests old and new by g. Philosophy of as if the subtitle an idealistic positivism it is but one of the contradictions. Hans vaihinger has 38 books on goodreads with 455 ratings. Hans vaihinger s most popular book is the philosophy of as if. One of the foremost early twentiethcentury scholars of the german philosopher immanuel kant, vaihinger also conducted extensive philosophical.
If you are looking for hans vaihinger s philosophy of as if, this book is not it. 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. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Vaihinger, hans article about vaihinger, hans by the. Hans vaihinger is currently considered a single author. Hans vaihinger 18521933 was a neokantian philosopher, who made. Routledge and kegan paul 1924 abstract this article has no associated abstract.
Vaihingers egen filosofi kaldes af ueberweg for idealistiskpragmatisk positivisme og nykantianisme. Hans vaihinger was eminently qualified to begin kantstudien. Theoretical, practical and religious hans vaihinger. The philosophy of as if epistemology and metaphysics. 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. Vaihinger, who saw life as a maze of contradictions and philosophy as a search for means to make life livable, began by. It aims to show that hans vaihinger s philosophy of as if has. 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 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. As if kwame anthony appiah harvard university press. Hans vaihinger 18521933 was a neokantian philosopher, who made important contributions to epistemology, philosophy of science and mathematics, and to the historiography of philosophy. I suspect that by saying this about his book, hans vaihinger meant, in fact. As a historian, vaihinger produced groundbreaking work on kants theoretical philosophy, especially on the transcendental aesthetic and transcendental. A system of the theoretical, practical and philosophy and scientific method. The philosophy of as if, which proposed that man willingly accept falsehoods or fictions in order to live peacefully in an irrational world. It discusses the philosophy of as if from meads perspective and gives a brief introduction to vaihinger.
Philosophy of as if philosophy britannica encyclopedia britannica. One of the great kant scholars, in 1884 he went to halle, where he became full professor in 1892. Books by hans vaihinger author of the philosophy of as if. 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. It discusses the philosophy of as if from meads perspective and gives a brief introduction to vaihinger s ideas, but thats it. Vaihingers philosophy of as if can be viewed as one of the central premises upon which george kellys.
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