Abstract In the concluding chapter of Die Philosophie des Als Ob, Vaihinger offers an interpretation of Nietzsche’s epistemology in terms of his own fictionalism. Here, I suggest that Vaihinger’s interpretation is close to being correct, and that we still have much to learn from it. In particular, his reading promises to cast new light on longstanding debates over Nietzsche’s alleged commitment to the ‘Falsification Thesis.’ This latter thesis holds that all human thought necessarily and comprehensively misrepresents the world. By contrast, I suggest (Vaihinger’s) Nietzsche is committed to the weaker and more interesting thesis that representing certain aspects of the world veridically requires the misrepresentation of other aspects.
Abstract This article examines Vaihinger’s early career in German academic philosophy. It describes how, following his habilitation, Vaihinger sought to make a name for himself with his ambitious plan for a comprehensive commentary on Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. At the same time, he worked as an anonymous reviewer...
Abstract This paper argues that the standard account of Darwin’s influence on Vaihinger is more problematic than it seems. The argument is divided into three parts. First, I analyze the way in which Vaihinger engages with Darwin and explain why this undermines the assumption that the theory of natural selection can hel...
Fictionalism is claimed to allow its advocates to do mathematics without having to commit thereby to the existence of abstract entities. Nevertheless, fictionalism is subject to a charge that has not received enough attention yet, namely, the nominalistic impurity objection. According to this objection, the fictional...
This article offers a new reading of decadence in Nietzsche, not as a time of despair or sclerosis, but as one of individuality and freedom. It does so by focusing on decadence’s emancipatory potential for exceptional individuals. For Nietzsche, the best philosophers, artists, and heroes do not merely emerge despite, b...
Mathis Bitton· Philosophy & Social Crit...· 0 citations
Abstract Hans Vaihinger’s Die Philosophie des Als Ob met with significant response immediately after its first publication in 1911. How did writers of those days receive Vaihinger’s theory? In the following there are presented three prominent writers in context with their productive reception of the Philosophy of the A...
In recent years forms of idealism influenced by Berkeley, Leibniz, and Mill have been defended, and metaphysicians and philosophers of mind have begun to appreciate some distinctive advantages that idealism has over materialist realism. One historical idealist has been conspicuously absent in this idealist revival: Hus...
James Kinkaid· Ergo, An Open Access Journal...· 0 citations
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