Bernstein’s Concept of The Pragmatic turn

Significant place in R. Bernstein's late works has the concept of «pragmatic turn», linked with communicative rationality. In the article we analyze the origin of this term showing that the origin of this notion can be traced formally from one private discussion between R. Rorty and J. Habermas, which concerned of understanding some points of Kantian philosophy, but Bernstein was able to actualize this concept. Rorty and Habermas themselves have serious discrepancies in their understanding of communicative rationality and its ultimate goals, but they both agree on an understanding of the concept of «pragmatc turn». Rorty eventually tends to the term «rhetorical turn», while his followers and critics use the Habermas' term «pragmatic turn» in the meaning of «radicalization of the linguistic turn». Bernstein's reduction of various directions to pragmatism is realized in the appropriationist methodology: he extends the context of one’ belonging to the philosophical tradition to the context of contemporary philosophical or even social problems, otherwise it couldn’t be distinguish eternal philosophical problems from particular immediate issues, and his conclusions are of an clarification, but not of dogmatic explanation for those processes that occur in the philosophy of the XXth century. Throughout his work, Bernstein several times clarifies the pragmatic themes, and finally offers the following list: (1) anti-foundationalism; (2) community of inquirers; (3) fallibilism; (4) radical contingency; (5) pluralism. The listed topics firstly coincide with the characteristics of relativism, and secondly, they intersect with the characteristics of the rhetorical turn, which gives good reasons for talking about the interdependence of rhetorical turn, pragmatism and relativistic methodology. Three themes from the new list - the community of inquirers, fallibilism and radical contingency - are contained, as a basic element, the relativistic and pragmatic motif (raised by Peirce) of the absence a chasm between the subject and the object, or mind and world due to tertia or «thirdness». So we give a brief excursion into the pragmatic problem of tertia and the discussions around it. Bernstein seeks to discover those sides in continental and analytic philosophies that bring them closer to pragmatism by establishing a common list of «pragmatic themes» common to any philosophy, behind which the recognition of communicative rationality shines. According to Bernstein, pragmatism should act as an interactive tool, because the whole of this tradition exists as a «dialogue» or «argument».

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