Between normativity and evolution
a pragmatic response to the ontological question of naturalism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26512/rfmc.v13i3.61357Keywords:
Normativity. Pragmatism. Naturalism. Language. Evolution.Abstract
This article addresses the ontological question of naturalism: how to reconcile the irreducible normativity of practices with a contingent natural history. It argues that contemporary naturalism, by expanding its explanatory scope through cognitive and evolutionary sciences, tends to reinterpret norms as stabilized functional regularities, blurring the difference between causality and validity (1). In response, the text proposes a pragmatist reconstruction of normativity centered on the inferentialist conception of the space of reasons, according to which norms are neither natural facts nor transcendent entities, but institutional statuses emerging from social practices of justification (2). Next, it discusses the relationship between evolution and normativity in light of developmental psychology and theories of cultural evolution, arguing that language, considered within the horizon of communicative practices, introduces a conceptual discontinuity within evolutionary continuity. The discussion results in an emphatic conception of normativity that does not regress to the dualism between nature and reason (3).
Downloads
References
BERNSTEIN, R. The pragmatic turn. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010.
BRANDOM, R. Making it explicit. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1994.
BRANDOM, R. Articulating reasons: an introduction to inferentialism. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001.
BRANDOM, R. Tales of the mighty dead: historical essays in the metaphysics of intentionality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002.
BRANDOM, R. Between saying and doing: towards an analytic pragmatism. [S.l.]: Oxford University Press, 2008.
BRANDOM, R. Reason in philosophy: animating ideas. [S.l.]: Belknap Press, 2009.
CHOMSKY, N. Sobre natureza e linguagem. São Paulo: WMF Martins Fontes, 2019.
COOKE, M. Language and reason: a study of Habermas’ pragmatics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1994.
COOLIDGE, F.; WYNN, T. Rise of Homo sapiens: the evolution of modern thinking. [S.l.]: Oxford University Press, 2018.
DE WAAL, F. Eu, primata: por que somos como somos. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2007.
DE WAAL, F. Primatas e filósofos: como a moralidade evoluiu. [S.l.]: Palas Athena, 2020.
DEVITT, M. The Blackwell guide to the philosophy of language. [S.l.]: Blackwell Publishing, 2006.
FREGE, G. Grundlagen der Arithmetik. Darmstadt: [s.n.], 1961.
FREGE, G. Nachgelassene Schriften und wissenschaftlicher Briefwechsel. [S.l.]: Felix Meiner, 1983.
HABERMAS, J. Discurso filosófico da modernidade. [S.l.]: Martins Fontes, 2002.
HABERMAS, J. Verdade e justificação: ensaios filosóficos. São Paulo: Loyola, 2004.
HABERMAS, J. Consciência moral e ação comunicativa. [S.l.]: Editora da Unesp, 2021.
KOREŇ, Ladislav; SCHMID, Hans Bernhard; STOVALL, Preston; TOWNSEND, Leo (orgs.). Groups, norms and practices: essays on inferentialism and collective intentionality. [S.l.]: Springer Nature Switzerland, 2021.
LAFONT, C. The linguistic turn in hermeneutic philosophy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1999.
LEGARE, Cristine H. The development of cumulative cultural learning. In: TOMASELLO, Michael; CALL, Josep (orgs.). The development of social cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.
LIMA, E. Realismo cognitivo, naturalismo e pragmatismo ético: a estrutura normativa das “formas de vida” segundo Habermas e Putnam. Principia, [S.l.], v. 17, n. 3, p. 459–488, 2013a.
LIMA, E. Normatividade e dialética de socialização e individualização: Hegel, Habermas e Honneth. In: MELLO, R. A teoria crítica de Axel Honneth: reconhecimento, liberdade e justiça. São Paulo: Saraiva, 2013b.
LIMA, E. Da semântica à pragmática: Kant, Hegel e o debate em torno da normatividade. Educação e Filosofia, Uberlândia, v. 38, p. 1–52, 2024.
LIMA, E. Apresentação à edição brasileira. In: HABERMAS, J. Entre naturalismo e religião. [S.l.]: Editora da Unesp, 2025.
MCDOWELL, J. Mind and world. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996.
MCDOWELL, J. Having the world in view: essays on Kant, Hegel and Sellars. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.
MESOUDI, A. What is cumulative cultural evolution? Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, [S.l.], v. 285, n. 1880, 2018. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0712.
MITHEN, S. A pré-história da mente: uma busca das origens da arte, religião e da ciência. [S.l.]: Editora Unesp, 2003.
MOLL, Henrike; NICHOLS, Shaun; PÜSCHEL, Johannes. Shared intentionality shapes humans’ technical know-how. Philosophical Psychology, [S.l.], v. 36, n. 4, p. 589–610, 2023. DOI: 10.1080/09515089.2023.2171954.
MÜLLER, Barbara. The transmission of cumulative cultural knowledge. Review of Philosophy and Psychology, [S.l.], v. 15, n. 1, p. 1–22, 2024. DOI: 10.1007/s13164-023-00695-4.
NEVES, W. A.; RAPCHAN, E. S.; BLUMRICH, L. A origem do significado: uma abordagem paleoantropológica. [S.l.]: GAIA, 2025.
NIETZSCHE, F. Sämtliche Werke: Kritische Studienausgabe in 15 Bänden. Hg. G. Colli; M. Montinari. Berlin; New York: Walter de Gruyter; [S.l.]: DTV, 1999.
O’MADAGAIN, C.; TOMASELLO, M. Shared intentionality, reason-giving and the evolution of human culture. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, [S.l.], v. 377, art. 20200320, 2021. DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0320.
PINKER, S. O instinto da linguagem: como a mente cria a linguagem. [S.l.]: Martins Fontes, 2004.
PUTNAM, H. The many faces of realism. La Salle: Open Court, 1987.
PUTNAM, H. Realism with a human face. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990.
PUTNAM, H. Colapso da verdade e outros ensaios. Aparecida: Ideias e Letras, 2002.
PUTNAM, H. Ethics without ontology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004.
PUTNAM, H. Corda tripla: mente, corpo e mundo. Aparecida: Ideias e Letras, 2008.
QUINE, W. V. O. Relatividade ontológica e outros ensaios. São Paulo: Abril Cultural, 1975.
RAJCHMAN, J. Post-analytic philosophy. New York: Columbia University Press, 1985.
RITCHIE, J. Understanding naturalism. [S.l.]: Routledge, 2006.
TAYLOR, C. The language animal: the full shape of the human linguistic capacity. [S.l.]: Belknap Press, 2016.
TOMASELLO, M.; KRUGER, A.; RATNER, H. Cultural learning. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, [S.l.], v. 16, n. 3, p. 495–511, 1993. DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X0003123X.
TOMASELLO, M.; CARPENTER, M.; CALL, J.; BEHNE, T.; MOLL, H. Understanding and sharing intentions: the origins of cultural cognition. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, [S.l.], v. 28, n. 5, p. 675–691, 2005. DOI: 10.1017/S0140525X05000129.
TOMASELLO, M. Language is not an instinct. Cognitive Development, [S.l.], v. 20, n. 2, p. 227–239, 2005. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogdev.2005.01.003.
TOMASELLO, M. Origins of human communication. [S.l.]: MIT Press, 2010. (A Bradford Book).
TOMASELLO, M. A natural history of human thinking. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014.
TOMASELLO, M. A natural history of human morality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016.
TOMASELLO, M. Origens culturais da aquisição do conhecimento humano. [S.l.]: WMF Martins Fontes, 2019.
TOMASELLO, M. Agency and cognitive development. [S.l.]: Oxford University Press, 2024.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal of Modern and Contemporary Philosophy
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright for articles published in this journal is retained by the authors, with first publication rights granted to the journal. By virtue of their appearance in this open access journal, articles are free to use, with proper attribution, in educational and other non-commercial settings.
