Talk with Susan Haack

Susan Haack (born 1945) is a distinguished British philosopher known for her work in epistemology, philosophy of science, philosophy of language, and logic. Born in England, she has spent much of her academic career in the United States, where she is a professor of philosophy and law at the University of Miami.

Haack is best known for her doctrine of foundherentism, a theory of justification that she introduced to bridge the gap between foundationalism and coherentism. Foundationalism holds that certain basic beliefs form the foundation of our knowledge, while coherentism suggests that beliefs are justified by their coherence with other beliefs. Foundherentism combines elements of both by suggesting that knowledge is both founded on sensory experience and also gains justification through mutual coherence among beliefs.

One of Haack's major works is "Evidence and Inquiry" (1993), where she outlines her foundherentist approach. She criticizes both the traditional analytic philosophy's emphasis on language analysis and the postmodern challenge against objective truth. Haack advocates for a pragmatic approach to truth and inquiry, deeply influenced by the work of American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce.

In addition to her contributions in epistemology and philosophy of science, Haack has also written extensively on issues concerning science, society, and the integrity of research. She has been critical of certain trends in academia, particularly what she sees as the corrupting influence of external pressures on academic research and philosophical thought.

Haack’s work has received attention not only within philosophical circles but also in practical contexts such as law and science, affirming her stance on the applicability of philosophical inquiry to real-life issues.

Susan Haack has contributed significantly to discussions on the nature of truth, particularly in her development of the philosophy she calls "Foundherentism," which is a synthesis of foundationalism and coherentism. In Haack's view, the concept of truth is intricate and cannot be captured fully by any single traditional philosophical account like correspondence or coherence theories alone.

Haack is critical of both the strict correspondence theory of truth, which claims that truth is determined solely by how accurately statements correspond to the real world, and the pure coherence theory, which sees the truth as the consistency of statements within a given system of beliefs. Instead, she proposes a more integrated approach that underscores the necessity of a statement not only being coherent within a system but also having some sort of empirical support or foundational backing in reality.

Her pragmatist leanings also influence her perspective on truth. Haack is influenced by Charles Peirce’s concept of truth, where the truth is viewed as what would be agreed upon in the long run under sufficiently ideal conditions. Truth, from this angle, is not just static or a simple mirror of reality but has an aspect of potential consensus among inquirers as inquiry progresses.

Thus, while her views on truth are grounded in traditional realism (believing that there exists an objective reality that assertions can accurately reflect), she also acknowledges the complexities of how our beliefs interlock with each other and with our experiences of the world. This makes her stance somewhat eclectic, borrowing from different theories to form a more nuanced and practical understanding of what it means for something to be true.

Susan Haack is a proponent of pragmatism in philosophy, particularly influenced by the works of Charles Sanders Peirce, regarded as the founder of pragmatism. Haack's adoption of pragmatism is nuanced and aims to navigate a middle path between what she perceives as corrosive skepticism and naïve foundationalism, steering clear of the extreme relativism sometimes associated with other forms of pragmatism.

In her pragmatic philosophy, Haack emphasizes the idea of "foundherentism," which she develops as a synthesis of foundationalism and coherentism in theories of justification and knowledge. This concept is animated by a pragmatic approach—seeking a practical, working theory that acknowledges both the need for coherent systems in belief justification and experiential, observational starting points.

Haack believes pragmatism rightly shifts philosophy's focus towards the practical effects and applicability of ideas. Seeking to apply this to various domains of philosophy, she often critiques both the analytic and continental traditions of philosophy for their respective excesses and advocates for a philosophy that is engaged with real problems and maintains intellectual humility.

Thus, for Haack, pragmatism isn't merely a historical or theoretical interest; it deeply informs her approach to questions of truth, evidence, scientific inquiry, and the human need for understanding and navigating the world. This perspective leads her to value clarity, relevance, and a continuous refinement of our ideas through critical inquiry and practical testing.

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