Applied Neo-pragmatism
We typically think of talk of morality, of psychological states, and of objects as true or false. But what makes them true or false? Philosophy has shown that this ordinary way of thinking sometimes leads to commitments to odd properties and to other problems as well. An approach called "pragmatism" has tried to solve these problems by equating truth and usefulness. According to pragmatism, we consider statements true when they are useful for us. However, pragmatism has had troubles of its own.
"Neo-pragmatism" is a recent attempt to demystify truth and related notions such as representation and fact. One part of the program involves avoiding reliance on any robust notion of truth altogether, and substituting another explanation of our talk about truth. Another part of the program appeals to usefulness in order to explain how moral talk, psychological talk, everyday object talk, and so on, emerged.
Our two-day conference will feature both the theoretical and applied aspects of neo-pragmatism. The emphasis is on how the neo-pragmatist program solves problems in such arenas as morality and psychology and allows us to think of these areas as factual.
2018 Conference Program Here
