The purpose of Hägerström’s philosophy is to rescue object sciences from the Scylla and Charybdis of Solipsism and Nihilism. For Hägerström, science has one task, namely: “to establish the facts within a certain region, to reach general principles by induction, and to make deductive inferences from the inductively established results.”397The notions or concepts used and determined by science must, however, adhere to a basic epistemological standpoint - that is, a total absence of any contradictions. For if the scientific concepts or notions, whenphilosophically analyzed, disclose contradictions, then they are only “notions in appearance”; and thus not real notions, but “merely a concatenation of words without meaning”; which implies that either the concept’s reality or its real content is wanting.398 Therefore, the true task of philosophy must be to analyze the scientific (and common) notions, with this specific aim, namely: As has been demonstrated,Hägerström stresses the scientific importance of maintaining and constructing a logically consistent world of real concepts. If, in contrast, metaphysical concepts are applied, the facts determined by these concepts cease to be facts,400 as under such conditions it is impossible to ascertain the a ca l l f o r s c i e n t i f i c p u r i t y 167 7. 6 a de f ini t ion of sci ence “… to attain a real world of scientific concepts, which must be internally coherent. For the [sic!] reality, with which science is concerned, cannot be described by means of judgements that contradict one another. No doubt is it always possible to put such judgements into words, but these words have no meaning.Therefore no science which claims to describe reality can evade a conceptual analysis of this kind.”399 397 Hägerström, “Begreppet viljeförklaring,” p. 99; “Declaration of Intention,” p. 299. Swedish:“att på visst område konstatera fakta, genom induktion vinna allmänna satser och ur de induktivt vunna resultaten göra deduktioner.” 398 Hägerström, “Begreppet viljeförklaring,” p. 99; “Declaration of Intention,” p. 299. 399 Hägerström,“Begreppet viljeförklaring,” pp. 99-100;“Declaration of Intention,” pp. 299-300. 400 Hägerström,“Begreppet viljeförklaring,” pp. 99-100;“Declaration of Intention,” pp. 299-300.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=