Reflections on Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Architecture
Two recent collections on architectural theory and practice invoke the name of pragmatism as marking the hope of a new more intimate alignment of theory and practice after a period of what I call ‘philosophical vampirism’. This paper examines what role the philosophical tradition of pragmatism migh...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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TU Delft OPEN Publishing
2017-07-01
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| Series: | Footprint |
| Online Access: | https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/1796 |
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| author | David Macarthur |
| author_facet | David Macarthur |
| author_sort | David Macarthur |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Two recent collections on architectural theory and practice invoke the name of pragmatism as marking the hope of a new more intimate alignment of theory and practice after a period of what I call ‘philosophical vampirism’. This paper examines what role the philosophical tradition of pragmatism might play in relation to architecture. I argue that pragmatism is best understood as a method of overcoming intellectualist and metaphysical obstacles to clear thinking as opposed to a philosophical ideology of some kind. Against Rem Koolhaas’s argument for post-criticality I show that we are always already critical. Pragmatism’s task is to make criticism better. I end by invoking the craft ethos as articulated by Richard Sennett in his book The Craftsman (2008), as perhaps the best model of what a pragmatist architecture might look like. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fef320b8e93f4c75a15643ad6039187d |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1875-1504 1875-1490 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-07-01 |
| publisher | TU Delft OPEN Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Footprint |
| spelling | doaj-art-fef320b8e93f4c75a15643ad6039187d2025-02-03T01:05:02ZengTU Delft OPEN PublishingFootprint1875-15041875-14902017-07-0111110.7480/footprint.11.1.17961662Reflections on Pragmatism as a Philosophy of ArchitectureDavid Macarthur0Philosophy Department,The University of SydneyNSW 2006AUSTRALIATwo recent collections on architectural theory and practice invoke the name of pragmatism as marking the hope of a new more intimate alignment of theory and practice after a period of what I call ‘philosophical vampirism’. This paper examines what role the philosophical tradition of pragmatism might play in relation to architecture. I argue that pragmatism is best understood as a method of overcoming intellectualist and metaphysical obstacles to clear thinking as opposed to a philosophical ideology of some kind. Against Rem Koolhaas’s argument for post-criticality I show that we are always already critical. Pragmatism’s task is to make criticism better. I end by invoking the craft ethos as articulated by Richard Sennett in his book The Craftsman (2008), as perhaps the best model of what a pragmatist architecture might look like.https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/1796 |
| spellingShingle | David Macarthur Reflections on Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Architecture Footprint |
| title | Reflections on Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Architecture |
| title_full | Reflections on Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Architecture |
| title_fullStr | Reflections on Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Architecture |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reflections on Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Architecture |
| title_short | Reflections on Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Architecture |
| title_sort | reflections on pragmatism as a philosophy of architecture |
| url | https://ojs-libaccp.tudelft.nl/index.php/footprint/article/view/1796 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidmacarthur reflectionsonpragmatismasaphilosophyofarchitecture |