Robert Piercey

Campion College at the University of Regina, Philosophy, Faculty Member

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Supervisors: Stephen Watson
Phone: 1 306 359 1214
Address: Campion College at the University of Regina
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Books by Robert Piercey

Reading as a Philosophical Practice

Reading as a Philosophical Practice asks why reading—everyday reading for pleasure—matters so pro... more Reading as a Philosophical Practice asks why reading—everyday reading for pleasure—matters so profoundly to so many people. Its answer is that reading is an implicitly philosophical activity. To passionate readers, it is a way of working through, and taking a stand on, certain fundamental questions about who and what we are, how we should live, and how we relate to other things. The book examines the lessons that the activity of reading seems to teach about selfhood, morality, and ontology, and it tries to clarify the sometimes paradoxical claims that serious readers have made about it. To do so, it proposes an original theoretical framework based on Virginia Woolf’s notion of the common reader and Alasdair MacIntyre’s conception of practice. It also asks whether reading can continue to play this role as paper is replaced by electronic screens.

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The Uses of the Past From Heidegger to Rorty: Doing Philosophy Historically

In this book Robert Piercey asks how it is possible to do philosophy by studying the thinkers of ... more In this book Robert Piercey asks how it is possible to do philosophy by studying the thinkers of the past. He develops his answer through readings of Martin Heidegger, Richard Rorty, Paul Ricoeur, Alasdair MacIntyre and other historically-minded philosophers. Piercey shows that what is distinctive about these figures is a concern with philosophical pictures - extremely general conceptions of what the world is like - rather than specific theories. He offers a comprehensive and illuminating exploration of the way in which these thinkers use narrative to evaluate and criticise these pictures. The result is a powerful and original account of how philosophers use the past.

The Crisis in Continental Philosophy: History, Truth and the Hegelian Legacy

Continental philosophy has traditionally seen philosophy as historical, claiming that there are n... more Continental philosophy has traditionally seen philosophy as historical, claiming that there are no new beginnings in the discipline, and that we must revisit the work of earlier thinkers again and again. Yet, continental philosophers rarely argue explicitly for their view of philosophy's past, and the discussions of the topic that exist tend to be riddled with confusion.
Here, Robert Piercey asks why, and explores what the continental tradition must do to come to terms with this crisis. Piercey traces the confusion about history back to Hegel, who he argues sends a mixed message about historical thinking, one that is later adopted by Heidegger and then passed on to his successors. In addition to telling the story of this crisis, Piercey offers an account of historical thinking that does not lead to the difficulties that currently plague the continental tradition.
The result is a highly original look at the development of continental thought and the nature of philosophy's historical turn.

Papers by Robert Piercey

Is Paul Ricoeur Still Relevant to the Philosophy of History?

Rethinking History, 2024

When Paul Ricoeur’s Time and Narrative was published, it was hailed as a major contribution to th... more When Paul Ricoeur’s Time and Narrative was published, it was hailed as a major contribution to the philosophy of history. In the four decades since, Ricoeur’s brand of narrativism has fallen out of favour, and many of the claims he makes about historical narrative have been sharply criticized. Nevertheless, I argue that Ricoeur’s narrativism remains a powerful resource for philosophical reflections on the study of history. After reconstructing Ricoeur’s narrativism and placing it in its larger context, I discuss two sorts of criticism that have been directed at it: one made by literary theorists such as Monika Fludernik, and another made by philosophers such as Jouni-Matti Kuukkanen. I defend Ricoeur from both sorts of criticism, arguing that when his approach is compared to its competitors, it fares remarkably well. I conclude with some suggestions about how philosophers of history might build on Ricoeur’s legacy today.

Confusing Narratives

Philosophia, 2024

Jukka Mikkonen argues that the cognitive benefits of narrative should be explained in terms of un... more Jukka Mikkonen argues that the cognitive benefits of narrative should be explained in terms of understanding rather than knowledge. An apparent consequence of Mikkonen’s view is that “plot-based” conceptions of narrative are less interesting than has long been supposed. I argue that, although the concept of understanding does indeed outperform the concept of knowledge in this area, it would be a mistake to conclude that knowledge of plots is unimportant. Doing so ignores the distinctive kind of understanding gained from trying to shape events into an orderly plot but failing to do so.

How to Appropriate a Text: Paul Ricoeur on Narrative Unity

Idealistic Studies, 2021

One of the core principles of Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics is that interpretation culminates in ap... more One of the core principles of Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics is that interpretation culminates in application, or appropriation. But what exactly is an appropriation, and what makes some appropriations better than others? I try to shed light on these difficult matters by examining Ricoeur's own appropriation of Alasdair MacIntyre's notion of the narrative unity of a life, and by contrasting it with Richard Rorty's appropriation of the same notion. I argue that Ricoeur's appropriation is more successful than Rorty's, and that the best explanation of its success is that it respects a distinctive norm that governs the activity of appropriation. I conclude by describing this norm, which I call the principle of ultimate compatibility.

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Too Many Hegels? Ricoeur’s Relation to German Idealism Reconsidered

Palgrave Handbook of German Idealism and Phenomenology, ed. Cynthia Coe, 2021

Ricoeur’s readers usually assume they understand his view of Hegel, since he talks about Hegel of... more Ricoeur’s readers usually assume they understand his view of Hegel, since he talks about Hegel often and likes to characterize various aspects of his work as “Hegelian.” What often goes unnoticed is that Ricoeur does not always use this term in the same way. This chapter argues that Ricoeur uses the term “Hegelian” in three distinct senses: a methodological, an ontological, and a metaphilosophical sense. These senses overlap, but they are also in tension, and this fact greatly complicates the task of identifying Ricoeur’s attitude toward German Idealism—especially his claim in Time and Narrative that contemporary philosophers should “renounce Hegel.”

Faraway, So Close: Further Thoughts on Kanonbildung

Social Epistemology Review and Reply Collective, 2018

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Narcissism or Facts? A Pragmatist Approach to the Philosophy of History

Journal of the Philosophy of History, 2017

This essay asks whether a pragmatist philosophy of history can make sense of the notion of histor... more This essay asks whether a pragmatist philosophy of history can make sense of the notion of historical facts. It is tempting to think it cannot, since pragmatists insist, as James puts it, that the trail of the human serpent is over everything. Facts, by contrast, are typically thought of as something untouched by the human serpent, something impervious to what we think and do. I argue, however, that there is a way of understanding facts that is perfectly at home in pragmatist philosophy of history. Drawing on work by Robert Brandom, I propose that facts be interpreted inferentially. On this view, to call something a fact, or to say that the facts make my beliefs true, is simply a shorthand way of saying that a particular sort of relationship exists among certain sentences. I further show that this inferential understanding of facts is fully compatible with the distinctive features of historical inquiry. In particular, it is compatible with history’s irreducibly narrative character, and with the way different narratives can reveal radically different facts. Finally, I use this account of historical facts to respond to a classic criticism of pragmatism: the charge that pragmatism is narcissistic. I argue that pragmatism is narcissistic in only the minimal sense that it cannot countenance theory-neutral givens. But pragmatists can happily grant that there is more to truth than consensus, and that our claims are answerable to facts that everyone can get wrong.

Symposium Introduction: Mark Bevir’s A Theory of Governance

The Metaphilosophy of the Analytic-Continental Divide: From History to Hope

The Cambridge Companion to Philosophical Methodology, ed. Giuseppina D’Oro and Soren Overgaard., Dec 2016

Hermeneutics without Historicism: Heidegger, MacIntyre, and the Function of the University

Martin Heidegger and Alasdair MacIntyre both claim that universities perform important philosophi... more Martin Heidegger and Alasdair MacIntyre both claim that universities perform important philosophical functions. This essay reconstructs Heidegger’s and MacIntyre’s views of the university and argues that they have a common source, which I call hermeneutics without historicism. Heidegger and MacIntyre are hermeneutical philosophers: philosophers who are sensitive to the ways in which thought is mediated by interpretation and conditioned by history and culture. But both of them reject the relativistic historicism sometimes associated with a hermeneutical approach to philosophy. This desire to have it both ways leads Heidegger and MacIntyre to attach tremendous importance to activities that take place in universities but nowhere else. The essay also asks whether MacIntyre’s defenders should be troubled by the similarities between his account of the function of the university and Heidegger’s. I argue that they should not, because, while Heidegger’s account of the university has obvious moral and political failings, these failings result not from non-historicist hermeneutics as such, but from specific features of Heidegger’s version of it.

From Explanation to Understanding (and Back Again): Paul Ricoeur on the Natural Sciences

Socrates and Dionysus: Philosophy and Art in Dialogue, 2013

Learning to Swim with Hegel and Kierkegaard

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What, No Good? (Co-Authored with Anna Mudde)

Curb Your Enthusiasm and Philosophy , 2012

Kant and the Problem of Hermeneutics: Heidegger and Ricoeur on the Transcendental Schematism

What kind of philosopher is Paul Ricoeur? The answer seems obvious: he is a hermeneutical philoso... more

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Reading as a Philosophical Problem

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Historical Consciousness and the Identity of Philosophy

Paul Ricoeur on the Ethical Significance of Reading

Metaphilosophy as First Philosophy

This paper describes and evaluates two different ways of doing philosophy: a "reflexive" approach... more This paper describes and evaluates two different ways of doing philosophy: a "reflexive" approach that sees metaphilosophical inquiry as fundamental, and a "non-reflexive" approach that sees metaphilosophy as dispensable. It examines arguments that have been advanced for these approaches by Gilbert Ryle, Jerry Fodor, and Richard Rorty, and claims that none of these arguments are

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