Sharing the Background

Transcript

1. 1.

   Sharing the background Sharing the background Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at,

   Frankfurt a. M., Germany Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia Inaugural ENSO meeting October 16-17, 2009 Konstanz Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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   Sharing the background Searle’s argument for the background I Rejection

   of the intellectualist model of rule-following. Phenomenological argument: Most of our rule-following actions are not guided by representations of rules. General rule-following argument: Intentional content does not determine its extension by itself. (Wittgenstein’s regress) Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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   Sharing the background Searle’s argument for the background II Solution:

   Background as a non-intellectualist alternative. Background is not a behaviourist solution: Evolution in response to institutions makes it rule-guided. Two-stage causal account: evolutionary account of dispositions, dispositional account of actions. Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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   Sharing the background Problems of a causal background explanation I

   The Argument from Normativity: 1 Rule-following is a normative phenomenon. 2 Regularities of behaviour do not provide normative criteria. 3 Dispositions as part of causal stories are counterfactual truths about regularities of behaviour. 4 Therefore: A dispositional model does not provide an interesting explanation for the ability to follow rules. Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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   Sharing the background Problems of a causal background explanation II

   An explanation of our ability to follow rules must not only include a (trivial) causal story, but also an account of how we come to be justified in our actions. Causal histories of actions are not good criteria for judgements about a person’s ability to follow rules. Searle does not actually provide us with a story about how a causal history explains the normative aspects of rule-following. Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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   Sharing the background Problems of a causal background explanation III

   “there is a socially created normative component in the institutional structure [...] the actual rules that we specify in describing the institution will determine those aspects under which the system is normative.” Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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   Sharing the background Problems of a causal background explanation IV

   The evolutionary story requires an account of the institutional environment (only rule-following behaviour can provide a suitable environment, but then the ability of others to follow rules is already presupposed). Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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   Sharing the background Causal vs. constitutive background explanations I Ambiguity

   of the question: “How is a person able to follow a rule?” Causal explanation: What are the causal conditions for a person to produce some token of behaviour which counts as rule-following? Constitutive explanation: What must be true such that some behaviour of a person can count as rule-following? Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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   Sharing the background Causal vs. constitutive background explanations II Is

   this still the question of the background? Yes, because we must ask not only how an individual can act in a way such that her behaviour might be rule-following but also what conditions must obtain for her behaviour to actually be rule-following. Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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    Sharing the background The Wittgenstein / Heidegger insight I Wittgenstein:

    We often act without justification, but this does not mean that we act without right. Causal account does not solve normative problem. Importance of the embedding of an action into a context of public practice. Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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    Sharing the background The Wittgenstein / Heidegger insight II Heidegger:

    Background as being-in-the-world. Question of significance of our agency. Concept of care. A social pragmatist Heidegger∗: Being-in-the-world constitutively depending on interlocking attitudes of care. ∗ Not to be confused with the actual Heidegger Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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    Sharing the background The duality of practice The duality of

    practice: First aspect: dispositional guidance (in the normal case). Second aspect: Embedding in normative discourse. How do these both aspects go together? Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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    Sharing the background A moderate conformist model of rule-following I

    Second-order disposition: Orientation towards affirmative attitudes of others. But: Not any affirmative attitudes, but only correct ones. No regress because of defeasible default justification of normative attitudes. Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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    Sharing the background A moderate conformist model of rule-following II

    Attitudes count as justified only as long as there are no discursive challenges. Consequence: Background of rule-following is a network of mutual attitudes, combined with a readiness to recognize discursive challenges. In other word: Attribution of default authority or recognition. Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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    Sharing the background Consequences We have to understand the significance-generating

    second-order dispositions as normative expectations Hegelian model of Sittlichkeit. Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt
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    Sharing the background stahl@em.uni-frankfurt.de Titus Stahl Goethe-Universit¨ at Frankfurt