A world very much our own: poietic-pragmatic, non-linguistic anti-representationalism

Abstract

In this essay I deal with our practical-sensible, also creative, entanglement with the world, and on such basis connect reality, action, meaning and knowledge, endeavoring to distinguish my position in this respect from both an empiricist representationalist realism, here construed as uninteresting for the realization of the free creative dispositions of human beings, and a linguistic anti-representationalism, which is open to similar concerns, considered here, however, as insufficiently open to sensitive creation,  while, on the other hand, it advantageously favors the social, non-foundationalist character of the aforementioned entanglement. I try to accomplish that by way of a practical-sensible non-representationalism, suggested here as possibly more advantageous, defensible, productive and appropriate to our circumstances. I do so by resorting to four main, albeit incipient, notions: a) that of a meaninful practical-sensitive intentionality: b) that of reality and of ourselves as a sensible activity, c) that of human action as poiesis, creative doings that introduce new things into the world; and d) that of meaning and normativity as constituted by our practice of dealing purposefully with the world. The text proceeds basically through four main steps: 1) it critically exposes the representationalist, abstract-mentalist side of the above mentioned realistic empiricism; 2) it critically exposes a counterposing linguistic anti-representationalism construed as excessively ‘linguicentric;’ and 3) as an alternative to both these figures/constructs. it arrives at an embryo of ‘sensitive-creative pragmatism;’ to finally 4) delineate, in conclusion, a particular materialist-holistic, objectual conception of world, culture and ourselves.