Date: Wed, 6 Oct 1999 16:11:30 -0400 (EDT)
From: Ruth Groff <rgroff-AT-yorku.ca>
Subject: Re: BHA: epistemic fallacy.


Hiya Charles,

>Charles: I thought Hegel , Engels and Lenin made moves after Kant

Yes, of course.  But in terms of the responding to the move in question --
Kant's reformulation of the materialism/idealism debate via his
reformulation of the rationalism/empiricism debate -- I'm not sure that any
of them do what I take Bhaskar to assume that he himself has done: provide
rigorous philosophical argumentation in defense of a materialist ontology.
I guess I don't really know much about how Lenin approaches the question, so
I could very well be wrong there.  But Engels seems to do more asserting
than arguing, and Hegel is not where I'd look to counter Kant on behalf of
ontological materialism!  It does seem to me that in taking on the epistemic
fallacy Bhaskar is arguing with Kant. I think it's the right place to
intervene, I'm just not sure that all's been said and done yet.    


>Not to be picky, but the saying is " the proof of the pudding is in the
>eating". The difference between what you say and I do seems to parallel the
>philosophical issue.


Yes, you're probably right!  But look, (while were at it) even if my mixing
up the saying tells us something about my intellectual proclivities,
re-stating the 2nd thesis as you go on to do doesn't address the problems
associated with adopting a pragmatic theory of truth.  [Also, what Marx is
talking about there when he uses the term "objective truth" is not what I
took you to be talking about when you used the term "truth," which was
something along the lines of "validity."] 


>What are you going to do ? Make Marx a Kantian ? 

I'm not trying to duck out, but I don't really understand what you're asking
here. 


>How does Bhaskar stand on these issues ? Kantian or Marxist ?

I understand Bhaskar to believe that he has successfully refuted Kant, and
that his, Bhaskar's, position is there, implicitly/incipiently in Marx.

Sorry to respond and run, but I gotta go get some work done.




Ruth



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