Neopragmatist Historiography of Philosophy. Nominalistic-historicist History of Philosophy as Historical Recontextualization?

• Applicant: Dr. Ieva Höhne
• Subject Area: History of Philosophy
• Term: since 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 575051501

This project undertakes a systematic analysis of neo-pragmatist historiography of philosophy, in terms of both its methodological program and practice. It does this upon an example of an author who is primarily associated with the renewal of the pragmatist philosophical tradition since the 1970s: Richard Rorty (1931–2007). The analysis of Rorty's history of philosophy is based on the premise that historical-interpretive work should be examined and questioned as contextualization—a premise that links the project closely with the previous DFG project "Context as the Metaproblem of History of Philosophy and Intellectual History. An Attempt at Methodological Systematisation" (Walter Benjamin Program, 2024–2026). The heuristics of contextualization and the context typology developed in that project provide the necessary methodological basis for the proposed project. Its goal will be realized in two main steps: 1) The elaboration of Rorty's methodologically programmatic statements on the basis of his complete works; 2) The analysis of selected examples of him writing the history of philosophy. Together with the comparison of contextualization practice and programmatics, as well as contextualization practice and (problem-oriented) philosophy, the following research questions will be addressed above all: What types of contextualization can be identified in Rorty's historiography, and do certain patterns emerge that suggest a distinctive methodological line(s) in his complete works? In what relationship does Rorty's explicit methodological self-understanding stand to his actual interpretive output? Does the ensuing historiographical profile appear comprehensible against the background of Rorty’s neo-pragmatic positions on systematic questions, or would it be more accurate to speak of certain dissonances or even a non-relationship? The analysis of Rorty's historical-interpretive work as a mixture of prevalent and idiosyncratic patterns contributes to questioning and perhaps expanding of the methodological range of contemporary historical-philosophical research as well as to a better understanding of the ambivalence and complexity of the relationship between interpretative programs and practices.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants