Metaphysical Questions are of Social Importance
December 2, 2009
But though the question of realism and nominalism has its roots in the technicalities of logic, its branches reach about our life. The question whether the human species has any existence except as individuals, is the question whether there is anything of more dignity, worth, and importance than individual happiness, individual aspirations, and individual life. Whether men [sic.] really have anything in common, so that the community is to be considered as an end in itself, and if so, what the relative value of the two factors is, is the most fundamental, practical question in regard to every public institution the constitution of which we have it in our power to influence.
- Charles Sanders Peirce, ‘Frazer’s The Works of George Berkeley‘ (1871)
I am quite a fan of the philosophical school known as Pragmatism, and the above quote from one of its founders is a good example of why. One of Pragmatism’s central commitments is that the most abstract and speculative philosophical activity is of value because of how it affects social life. This view can lead you to reject a whole lot of metaphysics or speculation if it conceivably makes no difference to the way people find their way around or form communities. This view could also lead you to see what is of value and importance in metaphysical and speculative discussions, and to think about how small changes there could warrant or cause changes in social life. For example, Peirce is suggesting that the views we come to about human nature will inform how we treat others and how we organise ourselves politically, and so much ink is rightfully spilt over trying to explain and argue for certain metaphysical positions.
This is what Peirce is saying in relation to the nominalism/realism debates of the late Middle Ages. Although he has reservations about the arguments and conclusions of the respective views, he think that the debate is important, since it is really asking very important questions about ethics and politics.
As a Christian, I find this view quite attractive. Christians think that their views about God and the resurrection of Jesus branches out into all areas of life, as Peirce would put it.
