The ecological rationality of the pragmatist theory of knowledge

Abstract

According to U. Neisser (1976), a psychological theory is ecologically valid if it asserts something nontrivial about what people do in real and culturally meaningful situations. In this paper, I maintain that the pragmatist theory of knowledge is an ecologically valid research in the strong sense that it is biologically and culturally grounded. Based in the theses by James, Peirce, and Dewey, I characterize the research as action that is ecologically grounded and whose aim is to solve problems. Lastly, I discuss the issue of the pragmatist equivalence between problem solving and situation change, trying to make it more plausible through a redefinition of some notions in traditional epistemology.