Abstract
I aim to reject a semantic doctrine, “Incommensurability”, commonly attributed to Kuhn and Feyerabend. They also subscribe to the neo-Kantian metaphysical doctrine of “Constructivism” which stands opposed to “Realism”. I argue that the Incommensurability issue comes down to the Realism issue. On the Realism issue I reject four arguments for Constructivism. Two Kantian arguments make the mistakes of using an a priori methodology and of not “putting metaphysics first”. Two arguments by Hoyningen-Huene and his co-authors support relativism but do nothing to support the Kantian core of Constructivism. I conclude by arguing against “meta-incommensurability”.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Devitt, M. (1979). “Against Incommensurability.” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 57: 29–50.
Devitt, M. (1996). Coming to Our Senses: A Naturalistic Defense of Semantic Localism. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Devitt, M. (1997). Realism and Truth. 2nd edition. With a new afterword. (1st edition 1984, 2nd edition 1991). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Devitt, M. (1998). “Naturalism and the A Priori.” Philosophical Studies 92: 45–65.
Devitt, M. (1999). “A Naturalistic Defense of Realism.” In S. Hales, ed., Metaphysics: Contemporary Readings, pp. 90–103, Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Devitt, M., and K. Sterelny. (1999). Language and Reality: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Language. 2nd edition. (1st edition 1987). Oxford: Blackwell Publisher.
Dretske, F. (1981). Knowledge and the Flow of Information. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Feyerabend, P. (1978). Science in a Free Society. London: New Left Books.
Feyerabend, P. (1981a). Realism, Rationalism and Scientific Method, Philosophical Papers, Volume I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Feyerabend, P. (1981b). Problems of Empiricism: Philosophical Papers, Volume 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Field, H. (1973). “Theory Change and the Indeterminacy of Reference.” Journal of Philosophy 70:462–481.
Field, H. (1998). “Epistemological Nonfactualism and the A Prioricity of Logic.” Philosophical Studies 92: 1–21.
Goodman, N. (1978). Ways of Worldmaking. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.
Hawkes, T. (1977). Structuralism and Semiotics. London: Methuen & Co.
Hoyningen-Huene, P. (1993). Reconstructing Scientific Revolutions: Thomas S. Kuhn’s Philosophy of Science, trans. A. Levine (German edition 1989). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hoyningen-Huene, P., E. Oberheim and H. Andersen. (1996). “On Incommensurability.” Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science 27: 131–141.
Jameson, F. (1972). The Prison-House of Language. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
Kripke, S. (1980). Naming and Necessity. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Kuhn, T. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. 2nd edition. (1st edition 1962). Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Kuhn, T. (1979). “Metaphor in Science.” In A. Ortony, ed., Metaphor and Thought, pp. 409–419, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kuhn, T. (1983). “Commensurability, Comparability, Communicability.” In P. Asquith and T. Nickles, eds., Proceedings of the 1982 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, pp. 669–688, East Lancing: Philosophy of Science Association.
Latour, B. and S. Woolgar. (1986). Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts. 2nd edition. (1st edition 1979). Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Martin, M. (1971). “Referential Variance and Scientific Objectivity.” British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 22: 17–26.
Millikan, R. (1984). Language, Thought and Other Biological Categories: New Foundations for Realism. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Putnam, H. (1975). Mind, Language and Reality. Philosophical Papers, Volume 2. Cambridge University Press.
Putnam, H. (1981). Reason, Truth and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Oberheim, E. and P. Hoyningen-Huene (1997). “Incommensurability, Realism and Meta-Incommensurability.” Theoria 12: 447–465.
Quine, W. (1952). Methods of Logic. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Quine, W. (1961). From a Logical Point of View. 2nd edition. (1st edition 1953). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Rey, G. (1998). “A Naturalistic” A Priori: Philosophical Studies 92: 25–43.
Rorty, R. (1979). Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Sankey, H. (1994). The Incommensurability Thesis. Aldershot: Avebury.
Sankey, H. (1997). “Incommensurability: The Current State of Play.” Theoria 12: 425–445.
Sankey, H. (1998). “Taxonomic Incommensurabilty.” International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 12: 7–16.
Stove, D. (1991). The Plato Cult and Other Philosophical Follies. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Whorf, B. (1956). Language, Thought and Reality, ed. and intro. J. Carroll, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Wolterstorff, N. (1987). “Are Concept-Users World-Makers?” In J. Tomberlin, ed., Philosophical Perspectives, 1: Metaphysics, 1987, pp. 233–267, Atascadero: Ridgeview Publishing Company.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Devitt, M. (2001). Incommensurability and the Priority of Metaphysics. In: Hoyningen-Huene, P., Sankey, H. (eds) Incommensurability and Related Matters. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol 216. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9680-0_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-9680-0_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-5709-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-015-9680-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive