Pluralism (philosophy of mind)
Encyclopedia
Pluralism is a term used in philosophy
, meaning "doctrine of multiplicity", often used in opposition to monism
("doctrine of unity") and dualism
("doctrine of duality"). The term has different connotations in metaphysics
and epistemology. Pluralism in metaphysics is a doctrine that many basic substances
make up reality, while monism holds existence to be a single substance, often either matter (materialism
) or mind (idealism
), and dualism
believes two substances, such as matter and mind, to be necessary. Pluralism in epistemology is the position where there is not one consistent set of truths about the world, but rather many. Often this is associated with pragmatism
and conceptual and cultural relativism
.
indicates the belief that reality consists of many different substances. It sits in contrast with the concepts of monism
and dualism
in metaphysics
.
s, and exists in many ancient world views. The concept of elements in the Western tradition originates from Babylonian mythology. The Enûma Eliš, a text written between the 18th and 16th centuries BC, describes four cosmic elements: the sea
, earth
, sky
, and wind
. In Egypt, these elements were fire, water, air, and earth, and in Greece, Empedocles
wrote that they were fire, air, water and earth. He called such four elements of physical reality "roots". Actually Empedocles do not used the word "element" (στοιχεῖον = stoicheion), which seems to appear afterwards in Plato, with different proportions or the root elements indestructible and unchangeable elementary things was born the numerous types of bodies in the world. Empedocles, said that association and disassociation of the elements was creating the reality. Aristotle
incorporated these elements, but his substance pluralism was not material in essence. His hylomorphic theory allowed him to maintain a reduced set
of basic material elements as per the Milesians
, while answering for the ever-changing flux of Heraclitus
and the unchanging unity of Parmenides
. In his Physics
, due to the continuum of Zeno's paradoxes
, as well as both logical and empirical considerations for natural science, he presented numerous arguments against the atomism
of Leucippus
and Democritus
, who posited a basic duality of void and atoms. The atoms were an infinite variety of irreducibles, of all shapes and sizes, which randomly collide and mechanically hook together in the void, thus providing a reductive account of changeable figure, order and position as aggregates of the unchangeable atoms.
In epistemology (how we conceive the structure of "truth"), pluralism is the opposite extreme to pragmatism
. Pluralism employs conceptual relativism, while pragmatism employs the radical empiricism
's radical translation
of the world by way of radical interpretation
. Pluralism handles new information by structuring it relationally to other information, while pragmatism handles it by assigning existential meaning
to a personal immediacy. Pluralism is metaphysical and meta-ethical, and espouses a cultural relativism
with strong social constructivism, while Pragmatism is physical, ethical in their opinion and of weak social constructivism. In epistemology Pluralism is relativistic in the way it deals with concepts. For example, taking the concept of human culture, pluralism takes the way of cultural relativism
. Here it considers how local natural geography and local history gave rise to cultural truths. Then it considers the set of cultural descriptions of each part of the world, and how they possibly contain mutually exclusive truths. Each can be complete and true in their own yet cause falsities when extended to overlap.
Robert Sapolsky
reports, after decades of scientific field work, that his chimps had "27 different variants of regional behavioral differences", unique cultures based largely on tool making. Franz Boas
performed his anthropology in a similar same way, empirically, while developing his theory of cultural relativism.
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, meaning "doctrine of multiplicity", often used in opposition to monism
Monism
Monism is any philosophical view which holds that there is unity in a given field of inquiry. Accordingly, some philosophers may hold that the universe is one rather than dualistic or pluralistic...
("doctrine of unity") and dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
("doctrine of duality"). The term has different connotations in metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
and epistemology. Pluralism in metaphysics is a doctrine that many basic substances
Substance theory
Substance theory, or substance attribute theory, is an ontological theory about objecthood, positing that a substance is distinct from its properties. A thing-in-itself is a property-bearer that must be distinguished from the properties it bears....
make up reality, while monism holds existence to be a single substance, often either matter (materialism
Materialism
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena are the result of material interactions. In other words, matter is the only substance...
) or mind (idealism
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
), and dualism
Dualism
Dualism denotes a state of two parts. The term 'dualism' was originally coined to denote co-eternal binary opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been diluted in general or common usages. Dualism can refer to moral dualism, Dualism (from...
believes two substances, such as matter and mind, to be necessary. Pluralism in epistemology is the position where there is not one consistent set of truths about the world, but rather many. Often this is associated with pragmatism
Pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
and conceptual and cultural relativism
Cultural relativism
Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture. This principle was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and...
.
Metaphysics
The concept of pluralism in philosophyPhilosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
indicates the belief that reality consists of many different substances. It sits in contrast with the concepts of monism
Monism
Monism is any philosophical view which holds that there is unity in a given field of inquiry. Accordingly, some philosophers may hold that the universe is one rather than dualistic or pluralistic...
and dualism
Dualism (philosophy of mind)
In philosophy of mind, dualism is a set of views about the relationship between mind and matter, which begins with the claim that mental phenomena are, in some respects, non-physical....
in metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
.
Ontological pluralism
Ontological pluralism is directly related with the belief in classical elementClassical element
Many philosophies and worldviews have a set of classical elements believed to reflect the simplest essential parts and principles of which anything consists or upon which the constitution and fundamental powers of anything are based. Most frequently, classical elements refer to ancient beliefs...
s, and exists in many ancient world views. The concept of elements in the Western tradition originates from Babylonian mythology. The Enûma Eliš, a text written between the 18th and 16th centuries BC, describes four cosmic elements: the sea
Water (classical element)
Water is one of the elements in ancient Greek philosophy, in the Asian Indian system Panchamahabhuta, and in the Chinese cosmological and physiological system Wu Xing...
, earth
Earth (classical element)
Earth, home and origin of humanity, has often been worshipped in its own right with its own unique spiritual tradition.-European tradition:Earth is one of the four classical elements in ancient Greek philosophy and science. It was commonly associated with qualities of heaviness, matter and the...
, sky
Aether (classical element)
According to ancient and medieval science aether , also spelled æther or ether, is the material that fills the region of the universe above the terrestrial sphere.-Mythological origins:...
, and wind
Air (classical element)
Air is often seen as a universal power or pure substance. Its supposed fundamental importance to life can be seen in words such as aspire, inspire, perspire and spirit, all derived from the Latin spirare.-Greek and Roman tradition:...
. In Egypt, these elements were fire, water, air, and earth, and in Greece, Empedocles
Empedocles
Empedocles was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best known for being the originator of the cosmogenic theory of the four Classical elements...
wrote that they were fire, air, water and earth. He called such four elements of physical reality "roots". Actually Empedocles do not used the word "element" (στοιχεῖον = stoicheion), which seems to appear afterwards in Plato, with different proportions or the root elements indestructible and unchangeable elementary things was born the numerous types of bodies in the world. Empedocles, said that association and disassociation of the elements was creating the reality. Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
incorporated these elements, but his substance pluralism was not material in essence. His hylomorphic theory allowed him to maintain a reduced set
Reduction (philosophy)
In philosophy, reduction is the process by which one object, property, concept, theory, etc., is shown to be explicable in terms of another, lower level, entity...
of basic material elements as per the Milesians
Milesians (Greek)
The Milesians of Hellenic civilization were the inhabitants of Miletus, a city in the Anatolia province of modern-day Turkey, near the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and at the mouth of the Meander River. Settlers from Crete moved to Miletus sometime in 16th century BC...
, while answering for the ever-changing flux of Heraclitus
Heraclitus
Heraclitus of Ephesus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Asia Minor. He was of distinguished parentage. Little is known about his early life and education, but he regarded himself as self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom...
and the unchanging unity of Parmenides
Parmenides
Parmenides of Elea was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the southern coast of Italy. He was the founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy. The single known work of Parmenides is a poem, On Nature, which has survived only in fragmentary form. In this poem, Parmenides...
. In his Physics
Physics (Aristotle)
The Physics of Aristotle is one of the foundational books of Western science and philosophy...
, due to the continuum of Zeno's paradoxes
Zeno's paradoxes
Zeno's paradoxes are a set of problems generally thought to have been devised by Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea to support Parmenides's doctrine that "all is one" and that, contrary to the evidence of our senses, the belief in plurality and change is mistaken, and in particular that motion is...
, as well as both logical and empirical considerations for natural science, he presented numerous arguments against the atomism
Atomism
Atomism is a natural philosophy that developed in several ancient traditions. The atomists theorized that the natural world consists of two fundamental parts: indivisible atoms and empty void.According to Aristotle, atoms are indestructible and immutable and there are an infinite variety of shapes...
of Leucippus
Leucippus
Leucippus or Leukippos was one of the earliest Greeks to develop the theory of atomism — the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms — which was elaborated in greater detail by his pupil and successor, Democritus...
and Democritus
Democritus
Democritus was an Ancient Greek philosopher born in Abdera, Thrace, Greece. He was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher and pupil of Leucippus, who formulated an atomic theory for the cosmos....
, who posited a basic duality of void and atoms. The atoms were an infinite variety of irreducibles, of all shapes and sizes, which randomly collide and mechanically hook together in the void, thus providing a reductive account of changeable figure, order and position as aggregates of the unchangeable atoms.
Epistemology
Pluralistic conceptual relativism asserts that since there is no right way to carve up the world into concepts (e.g. what counts as an element), there will be several mutually exclusive complete and true descriptions of the world. In the case of cultural relativism, the argument claims that since truth is relative to culture, there will be several descriptions of parts of the world, possibly complete and true on their own sub domains but conflicting when extended to overlap. In the case of pragmatism, the argument claims that since truth is connected to successful action, and success is connected to the goals set by our interests, the correct set of truths will be relative to our interests. Hilary Putnam (a harsh critic of cultural relativism) is fond of the example, "how many objects are there in the world?" Putnam argues that what counts as an object cannot be determined objectively but rather only relative to someone's interests, therefore the true number of objects in the world will change relative to whose interests we have in sight.In epistemology (how we conceive the structure of "truth"), pluralism is the opposite extreme to pragmatism
Pragmatism
Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice, and applied back to practice to form what is called intelligent practice...
. Pluralism employs conceptual relativism, while pragmatism employs the radical empiricism
Radical empiricism
Radical empiricism is a pragmatist doctrine put forth by William James. It asserts that experience includes both particulars and relations between those particulars, and that therefore both deserve a place in our explanations...
's radical translation
Radical translation
Radical translation is a term invented by American philosopher W. V. O. Quine to describe the situation in which a linguist is attempting to translate a completely unknown language, which is unrelated to his own, and is therefore forced to rely solely on the observed behavior of its speakers in...
of the world by way of radical interpretation
Radical interpretation
Radical interpretation is interpretation of a speaker, including attributing beliefs and desires to them and meanings to their words, from scratch—that is, without relying on translators, dictionaries, or specific prior knowledge of their mental states. The term was introduced by American...
. Pluralism handles new information by structuring it relationally to other information, while pragmatism handles it by assigning existential meaning
Meaning (existential)
In existentialism, meaning is understood as the worth of life. Meaning in existentialism is unlike typical conceptions of "the meaning of life", because it is descriptive. Due to the method of existentialism, prescriptive or declarative statements about meaning are unjustified. Meaning is only...
to a personal immediacy. Pluralism is metaphysical and meta-ethical, and espouses a cultural relativism
Cultural relativism
Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture. This principle was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and...
with strong social constructivism, while Pragmatism is physical, ethical in their opinion and of weak social constructivism. In epistemology Pluralism is relativistic in the way it deals with concepts. For example, taking the concept of human culture, pluralism takes the way of cultural relativism
Cultural relativism
Cultural relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture. This principle was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and...
. Here it considers how local natural geography and local history gave rise to cultural truths. Then it considers the set of cultural descriptions of each part of the world, and how they possibly contain mutually exclusive truths. Each can be complete and true in their own yet cause falsities when extended to overlap.
Robert Sapolsky
Robert Sapolsky
Robert Maurice Sapolsky is an American scientist and author. He is currently Professor of Biological Sciences, and Professor of Neurology and Neurological Sciences and, by courtesy, Neurosurgery, at Stanford University. In addition, he is a Research Associate at the National Museums of...
reports, after decades of scientific field work, that his chimps had "27 different variants of regional behavioral differences", unique cultures based largely on tool making. Franz Boas
Franz Boas
Franz Boas was a German-American anthropologist and a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology" and "the Father of Modern Anthropology." Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, and did...
performed his anthropology in a similar same way, empirically, while developing his theory of cultural relativism.
See also
- AnekantavadaAnekantavada' is one of the most important and fundamental doctrines of Jainism. It refers to the principles of pluralism and multiplicity of viewpoints, the notion that truth and reality are perceived differently from diverse points of view, and that no single point of view is the complete truth.Jains...
- Epistemology
- Legal pluralismLegal pluralismLegal pluralism is the existence of multiple legal systems within one geographic area. Plural legal systems are particularly prevalent in former colonies, where the law of a former colonial authority may exist alongside more traditional legal systems...
- Nelson GoodmanNelson GoodmanHenry Nelson Goodman was an American philosopher, known for his work on counterfactuals, mereology, the problem of induction, irrealism and aesthetics.-Career:...
- PanarchismPanarchismPanarchism is a political philosophy emphasizing each individual's right to freely join and leave the jurisdiction of any governments they choose, without being forced to move from their current locale. The word "panarchy" was invented and the concept proposed by a Belgian political economist, Paul...
- PantheismPantheismPantheism is the view that the Universe and God are identical. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal, anthropomorphic or creator god. The word derives from the Greek meaning "all" and the Greek meaning "God". As such, Pantheism denotes the idea that "God" is best seen as a process of...
- Pluralism in political philosophy
- Pluralism in political theoryPluralism (political theory)Classical pluralism is the view that politics and decision making are located mostly in the framework of government, but that many non-governmental groups use their resources to exert influence. The central question for classical pluralism is how power and influence is distributed in a political...
- PostmodernismPostmodernismPostmodernism is a philosophical movement evolved in reaction to modernism, the tendency in contemporary culture to accept only objective truth and to be inherently suspicious towards a global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. Postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from the...
- Value-pluralismValue-pluralismIn ethics, value pluralism is the idea that there are several values which may be equally correct and fundamental, and yet in conflict with each other...