Jerry Gill's Enduring Questions

Yet A Third Triad in the History of Philosophy: Contemporary Thought

Previously, I discussed the triadic patterns in both ancient and modern philosophy (Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and Rationalism, Empiricism, Common Sense, respectively). Now, I want to talk about a more contemporary triadic philosophical pattern: Analytic, Existentialist, and what I’ll call “Mediational” thought. By this, I mean those thinkers who aim to go beyond the deadlocks created by analytic and existential thinkers. In this third category, I will mention Merleau-Ponty, the later Wittgenstein, and Michael Polanyi.

The 20^th century was marked by the philosophical clash between the analytic thought of Logical Empiricism—represented by figures like Bertrand Russell, the early Wittgenstein, and A.J. Ayer—and the existentialist ideas of Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Martin Heidegger. The former argued that truth and knowledge can only be attained through careful use of strict logical and scientific methods. Meanwhile, the latter emphasized deep moral and psychological analysis. Although many other influential thinkers existed on both sides, these were prime examples. The debate between these perspectives shaped the entire 20th century.

Gradually, a third way of thinking or approach emerged, one that aimed to move beyond the deadlock caused by these two modes of thought. This method seeks to go beyond the impasse by uncovering a deeper and more inclusive understanding of knowledge and reality. The later Wittgenstein might have started this shift in his influential Philosophical Investigations. He aimed to go beyond traditional ways of thinking about reality by examining how language patterns can reveal what is real and what we can know about it. In his analysis of our “language games,” he tried to show the structure and influence of how we engage with reality and each other every day. Wittgenstein’s influence, along with that of his student J.L. Austin’s idea of “performative utterances,” has been almost impossible to measure in the ongoing development of philosophy.

I have labeled this fresh approach a “mediational” one because, as I see it, this group of thinkers seeks to mediate between or merge some of the main features of what seems to be a new approach to the issues involved. Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s work demonstrates a strong and fresh perspective on these problems by emphasizing the role of the human body in our effort to understand and interact with reality. His phrase “slacken the intentional threads which attach us to the world and bring them to our notice” to describe human intellectual activity captures what I see as a fitting image of how human thought works. He aimed to “begin in the middle” in our understanding of human understanding. After all, that is where we all have to start, “in situ,” without being able to go back to the “beginning,” whatever that might mean.

Finally, I recognize Michael Polanyi’s insights on the essential and foundational role of what he calls “tacit knowing,” which guides us away from traditional epistemological categories toward something deeper and more productive. In his most valuable book, Personal Knowledge, Polanyi contends that there is no way to access completely new, fundamental knowledge. Instead, we must start from where we already are, using the mental faculties we naturally possess. Our understanding of ourselves and the world can only develop through the process of cognitive activity. As we try to make explicit the categories and processes that underpin all knowing, we do so by engaging with them. Polanyi, therefore, can be seen as helping us move beyond the dead ends described earlier.