Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society: A Quarterly Journal in American Philosophy

Abstract:

Around 1795 Jakob Obereit contributed a concept of philosophical pragmatism as a theory of universal interaction as well as a statement against speculative idealism or nihilism by emphasizing Kant's principle of practical reason. Hegel's student and biographer Karl Rosenkranz provided another philosophical concept of pragmatism as an ontological theory of possibilities. A 'pragmatic possibility' he calls the state of the actual possible, which forms the transition towards realization and therefore is the 'pragmatic reality'. Hereafter the historical sources and possible reception within the U.S.A. will be presented and discussed to provide a starting point for further studies. A timeline at the end of the paper provides a concise overview.