Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 The worldmaker's universe
- 2 If this were an emerald it would be grue: problems and riddles of induction
- 3 The big picture
- 4 Particulars and parts
- 5 From Vienna Station to Boston Terminus
- 6 Follow the sign
- 7 Diagnosing art
- 8 Starmaking
- 9 Never mind mind, essence is not essential, and matter does not matter
- List of symbols
- Glossary of technical terms
- Further reading
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
8 - Starmaking
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- 1 The worldmaker's universe
- 2 If this were an emerald it would be grue: problems and riddles of induction
- 3 The big picture
- 4 Particulars and parts
- 5 From Vienna Station to Boston Terminus
- 6 Follow the sign
- 7 Diagnosing art
- 8 Starmaking
- 9 Never mind mind, essence is not essential, and matter does not matter
- List of symbols
- Glossary of technical terms
- Further reading
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In this chapter we shall present Goodman's “irrealism”, according to which he rejects the notion of one single, neutral reality that underlies our true versions of what the world is like. Such a reality is neither sufficient nor necessary to explain matters of epistemology or to distinguish true from false versions. We explain how this view is a consequence of Goodman's pluralism, constructionalism and anti-foundationalism, which we have encountered in the preceding chapters. It is also worth emphasizing that this obviously relativistic position does not collapse into an “anything goes”. “Irrealism” is not to be confused with “irrationalism”.
The plurality of versions
Throughout the book we have emphasized that Goodman is a pluralist in many regards. Like Carnap he thinks that we can build up the world in many ways. What we take as primitive – as the foundation of our construction – is not settled once and for all. Depending on purposes and interests we can build up the world out of qualia, erlebs or physical objects. In this way, Goodman had already rejected absolutism in A Study of Qualities:
Perhaps the conviction I should acknowledge most willingly is that absolutism must be rejected. But nothing is much emptier than a relativism that, without seeking to find any solution to a given problem, merely expresses a willingness to admit alternative solutions. Freedom has little value if we use it solely to declare that we have it. The recognition that theoretically there are many equally satisfactory systems is but the first step in the laborious task of realizing at least one of them.
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- Nelson Goodman , pp. 191 - 203Publisher: Acumen PublishingPrint publication year: 2006