Das Problem der Erkenntnisentwicklung und Peirces semiotisch-pragmatischer Lösungsansatz

Title: Das Problem der Erkenntnisentwicklung und Peirces semiotisch-pragmatischer Lösungsansatz
Format: Journal Article
Publication Date: 2002
Published In: Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Philosophie
Description: homepage Atlanta: Recent debates about “foundationalism” and “coherentism” as two approaches to justify knowledge have shown that their respective difficulties could be overcome by focussing on the development of knowledge. However, changing the point of view in this way leads at once to a problem which is well-known as the “paradox of learning” since Plato’s Meno. This paradox is “that if one tries to account for learning by means of mental actions carried out by the learner, then it is necessary to attribute to the learner a prior cognitive structure that is as advanced or complex as the one to be acquired” (Bereiter). The article shows that the two traditional solutions of this paradox – apriorism and inductivism – are the two horns of a dilemma. The thesis is that we can cope with this dilemma by means of Peirce’s concept of “diagrammatic reasoning” as developed within his semiotics. From a pragmatic point of view, emphasis is laid on the consistency of representational systems so that development of knowledge can either be explained by finding new representations within a given representational system, or by developing this system itself.
Ivan Allen College Contributors:
Citation: Allgemeine Zeitschrift für Philosophie. 27. 223 - 240.
Related Departments:
  • School of Public Policy