Illacjonizm czy immediatyzm? Spór wokół neoscholastycznej koncepcji realizmu w „Kryteriologii” Désiré Merciera
Illationism or immediatism? The debate on the neoscholastic conception of realism in "Criteriology" by Désiré Mercier

Summary/Abstract: The beginning of the XX-th century was marked by a far-famed philosophical discussion focused on the question of realism. The debate revealed the differences in the interpretation of a certain excerpt of "Criteriology" – the main work of cardinal Désiré Mercier. The major contribution to the debates was that of Étienne Gilson, viewing the problem from the perspective of methodical realism, and Léon Noël, a disciple of cardinal Mercier, who took the standpoint of the immediate, critical realism. While Gilson claims that Mercier's approach is definitively an indirect realism, and consequently, a Cartesian type of illationism, Noël argues that Mercier is an immediate realist, and his conception is based not on illation but on immediatism. The critical analysis of Mercier's conception supports the opinion represented by Noël. The difficulties reported by Gilson can be solved by introducing the opposition between the classical notion of substance and Kantian "thing in itself" which can be found in "Criteriology". Thus, the position taken by Mercier is definitely realistic and can be evaluated as an important voice in the dispute concerning not only contemporary varieties of idealism, but also different trends in realistic philosophy.

• Details
• Contents