Reduction of the Transcendent As the Basis of the Imaginative Turn in Neopragmatism

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the conceptual and methodological grounds of the imaginative turn made within the framework of neopragmatist discourse. The specific works of R. Rorty, H. Putnam, and M. Johnson are used as examples to present the features of the interpretation of ethics, moral law, and rationalist tradition. The article emphasizes the process of metaphorization of key concepts of Kant's ethics by the neopragmatists. It is argued that for Putnam Kant's ethics has value first of all for its figurative component, the presence of colorful metaphors based on the core concepts of the Judeo-Christian tradition. In adding, it is suggested to critically evaluate the position of Johnson, who deals in detail with Kant's main moral law, the meaning of the categorical imperative. It is established on the basis of the fact that neopragmatists have reduced the transcendental dimension that the crucial role begins to be taken by the sensuality of the empirical subject and imagination as a moral moderator. The author refers to this phenomenon by the term "imaginative turn". Citing the works of Russian researcher E.N. Ustyugova the author makes a conclusion that for neopragmatists the human being turns out to be an empirical natural phenomenon, and aesthetics is the only fundament for moral judgments.