COGNITIO-ESTUDOS

Revista Eletrônica de Filosofia
Philosophy Eletronic Journal
ISSN 1809-8428

São Paulo: Center for Pragmatism Studies
Philosophy Graduate Program
Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo
Available in http://www.pucsp.br/pragmatismo

Vol. 9, nº. 1, January-June, 2012

Pag.II

EDITORIAL

Continuing the editorial project of the PUC-SP Center for Pragmatism Studies (CPS), with the aim of promoting an increasing national and international dialogue in the philosophical field provided by Pragmatism, we bring to light this first 2012 issue of COGNITIO-ESTUDOS: Revista Eletrônica de Filosofia.

As the reader will certainly notice, this issue is characterized by a wide variety of themes, reflecting the diversity of interests and perspectives of the authors, as well as the complexity of the thread that connects them, revealing the effective presence of a community of investigators, raising thought-provoking themes for philosophical reflection

In this edition we have two extremely rich approaches on William James' philosophy. Francisco de Assis Razzo, in "Consciência e Experiência no Empirismo Radical de William James," offers a reflection about the relationship between conceptions of consciousness and experience within the epistemology and metaphysics of James' radical empiricism, exploring in detail two essays of the author, namely, "Does Consciousness Exist?" and "A World of Pure Experience". In a clear and precise style, Francisco shows how the philosophical dimensions of notion of consciousness as a role of knowledge in experience, help understand the grounds, the genesis and the evolvement of radical empiricism as a pluralist metaphysics, as well as the sense of the overcoming of the "mind and matter" dualism and of the reductionist explanations regarding consciousness.

From another standpoint, in the article "Método e Verdade em William James", Pablo Henrique Abraham Zunino shows how James' thought "is organized around a singular theory of truth." From the exploration of the genesis and characteristics of the theory of the Jamesian truth, the author makes an instigating reflection about how this theory of truth functions as a "nucleus from which we can understand the singularity of the pragmatist method," in its Jamesian aspect and, at the same time, about how it is possible to reconstruct the formulation of the problem of the conception of truth as correspondence, endeavoring to understand the solution that James offers to overcome it.

In the article "A Pragmatist Philosophy of the City: Dewey, Mead and Contemporary Best Practices", David W. Woods, from Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A., regales us with a brilliant and very contemporary analysis on the "interlacement between architecture, environmental preservation and a social architecture grounded on a deep democratic participation, that can build a natural socially sustainable city for the future". Woods explores actual examples, present in the main cities of the world, focusing on the way these cities deal with the interconnected issues of racial diversity and income, empowerment of the community, citizen education and welfare, the relationship between nature planning and human well-being planning, and what are the solutions that have appeared within collaborative planning for land use, transportation, economic development and socio-natural sustainability. All the examples used by Woods are woven through the pragmatist approach proposed by Dewey and Mead and, far from being solely descriptive, they point directly to the future, in the shape of actions in which we are all involved in a direct and responsible way.

Mônica Aiub, in her article "Filosofia Clínica e Pragmatismo: aproximações iniciais" shows the multiple aspects in which the practice of clinical philosophy finds grounds in Charles Sanders Peirce's pragmatism. The concept of apprenticeship as a change of habits and the refusal to draw dualities between internal and external world within Peirce's pragmatism, are the starting point for a connection with the method used by clinical philosophy, where "everyday issues are approached from their interactions with the surrounding universe, within the standards of regularity shown in the person's historicity."

In "Os modos de representação do cinema documentário e o realismo peirciano", Eduardo Tulio Baggio proposes a discussion on the ethical postures of the ways of representation of documentary cinema and its consequent language options in light of Peircean pragmatics and semiotics. Peirce's realism and phenomenology are the starting point for the documentary cinema analysis proposed by the author, in contrast with the paradigms of cinematographic studies based on language dependency. In his article, the author endeavors to answer two fundamental questions, namely: since "reality is independent of language, how can one analyze a type of mediation worked in the tradition of a specific language - that of the cinema - that seeks a particular relationship with reality by making assertions on the latter? Further, how can one consider ethical parameters for these assertions on reality based on Peircean realism?" Through this article, the journal gives readers another opportunity to reflect on how Peircean Pragmatism and Semiotics show their interfaces.

In four other articles of this issue of COGNITIO-ESTUDOS, the themes expand in approaches which are linked to Pragmatism in the deep dialogue that the latter always endeavored to conduct with the philosophical traditions that both preceded and succeeded it. We are thus gifted with articles that address Humean empiricism, Kantism, Darwinism and the philosophy of the Mind.

In the article "Argumentos utilizados por Hume para mostrar que a relação causal não existe", Eliene Cristina Praxedes Fernandes analyzes the four arguments used by David Hume to reject the idea of necessary cause and, at the same time, shows the extent of Humean influence on modern philosophy. The empiricist tradition was the arena for a fruitful dialogue with Pragmatism, in such a way that readers of the journal will be rewarded with the reflections provided by this article.

The contribution of Kant's opuscule entitled "On the Ultimate Ground of the Distinction of the Directions in Space", from 1768, to the Doctrine of space found in "Transcendental Aesthetics" of the Critique of Pure Reason, is the theme of the article by Lucas Amaral, under the title "The 1768 Opuscule: On the Ultimate Ground of the Differentiation of Regions in Space and its Contribution to the Space theme in Kant's Transcendental Aesthetic". The author explores, beyond a merely historical approach, some presuppositions rarely discussed regarding Kant before the Critique of Pure Reason, providing readers with a rich source of reflection on Kantism and its sui generis influence on the history of Modern and Contemporary philosophy, including Pragmatism.

In "O que o darwinismo explica?", Edson Cláudio Mesquita Pinto explores the details of the creative power of natural selection in the realm of Evolutionary Biology, discussing the question of the real explicative power of the adaptationist program. The so-called "creative power of natural selection" is "what makes it different, partly justifying the adaptationist presupposition that elects natural selection as a unique evolutionary process." It is needless to say how greatly Darwinism influenced the origins of Pragmatism, especially Peirce. Thus, this article will provide readers a rich speculative source in which to delve thoroughly.

We also have the invaluable contribution of Everaldo Cescon and Gleyson Dias de Oliveira in the article "As Teorias não reducionistas da Consciência", exploring the reflections of the Philosophy of Mind about the connection between mental phenomena and behavior or, more specifically, about the connection between mind and brain. The article addresses the non-reductionist theories of consciousness through an analysis of paths indicated by Frank Jackson, Thomas Nagel and David Chalmers.

Finally, this number of COGNITIO-ESTUDOS includes in its repertoire two careful reviews. The first, written by Marcelo Fischborn, reviews the book "The Scientific study of Dreams", by William Domhoff. The second, under the title "The new paradigm of pragmatic science and religion", written by Marcel Henry Robinson, presents the book Pertencendo ao Universo: Explorações nas fronteiras da ciência e da espiritualidade (Belonging to the Universe: Explorations on the frontiers of science and spirituality), by the authors Fritjof Capra, David Steindl and Thomas Matus.

With this brief presentation, we hope we have encouraged readers of COGNITIO-ESTUDOS to immerse themselves, without delay, in the study of these diverse and deep approaches in Pragmatism and other currents of Philosophy in this issue, keeping alight the continuity and seriousness of its editorial proposal.

Rodrigo Vieira de Almeida
Assistant Editor/COGNITIO-ESTUDOS
Center fo Pragmatism Studies, PUC-SP, Brazil