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5 - Ernst Mach’s Enlightenment Pragmatism

History and Economy in Scientific Cognition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2021

By
Thomas Uebel
Edited by
John Preston
John Preston
Affiliation:
University of Reading
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Summary

This chapter explores Ernst Mach’s philosophy of scientific knowledge as an original form of pragmatism. Mach recognised science as a deeply historical phenomenon and scientific knowledge as path-dependent, thoroughly fallible, and far from ever closed. Conceptual perplexities, he held, can only be resolved by historical-comparative investigations. What merits thinking of Mach as a pragmatist, I will argue, is his insistence, as a philosopher, on the ultimately practical orientation of all thought as a matter both of fact and norm, and, as a historian of science, on the need to investigate the specific problem situations out of and in response to which concepts and theories developed. Last but not least, the practical orientation of his philosophy found expression in his allegiance to the ideal of enlightenment.

Keywords

Ernst MachPragmatismHistory of scienceEconomy of thoughtEvolutionEnlightenment
Type
Chapter
Information
Interpreting Mach
Critical Essays
 , pp. 84 - 102
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

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