Blog 581 dynamics

 The French philosophers I discussed in preceding items in this blog, have been said to belong to ‘poststructuralism’ or ‘postmodernism’. They militated against basic notions and views of old philosophy: against what they called universal ‘logocentric’ theory, against structure, against identity, against the suppression or exclusion of ‘difference’. Their ideas were original, but generated much confusion and many puzzles It is not so clear what they were in favour of, and how they could contribute to inform policies or conduct. Indeed the very idea of solving puzzles was anathema to them. That goes against the pragmatism that is also supposed to be part of continental philosophy.

 I propose that much unclarity is dissolved, when we see things such as theory and identity not as objects, marbles we used to play with, but as processes of development. Theory is indeed partial, from a given perspective and based on often tacit background assumptions, and subject to correction and development. They may be just ‘language games’ of a selected community, as Rorty professed, but within their confines, they exercise criticism. There is incommensurability of basic assumptions and methods between games, but internally there is debate.

 Ideas, morals, theories, interpretations are not any more fixed than all other entities. Even a rock is a process, of atoms with whirling electrons that are not stable objects, but waves. Waves of potential position, probability, that yield an actual position when the waves collide. Likewise, identity of people is a wave of potential that becomes actual in interaction between people. 

 To develop this, I am writing a book entitled ‘Dynamic Coherence of Continental Philosophy’, where I develop dynamic theories of knowledge, language, identity, ethics and society, which, I claim, lift much obscurity,  while answering to criticism expressed by the French philosophers.