Talking their way out of relativism: Collingwood and Gentile on the nature of inquiry

Wakefield, James R. M. 2013. Talking their way out of relativism: Collingwood and Gentile on the nature of inquiry. Collingwood and British Idealism Studies 19 (2) , pp. 139-168.

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Abstract

This article asks towhat extent R.G. Collingwood's 'logic of question and answer' is compatible with the central tenets of Giovanni Gentile's 'actualism'. It is argued that, interpreted as an actualist device, Collingwood's 'logic' offers useful insights into the mechanisms underlying Gentile's theory. Both must confront what I call the 'Actualist Dilemma,' which holds that if there is no reality independent of actual thinking, truth becomes entirely relative to whatever beliefs a thinker happens to have, including those regarding the structures and conditions by which truth is determined. Understood as attempts to address the basic problem of the relation between truth and inquiry, these theories are more alike than they first appear. For both, the foundation of truth is an interpersonal standard regarded from the subjective standpoint of actual thinking.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Department of Politics and International Relations (POLIR)
Publisher:	Imprint Academic
ISSN:	1744-9413
Last Modified:	14 Feb 2018 09:53
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/109084

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