Truth and Ethics in a Pragmatist Functional Metaphysics

This paper draw outs and expands on three themes in Aime Thomasson’s Rethinking Metaphysics. First, I trace the roots of her central idea (that we only understand our concepts when we understand the roles they play in our lives) in classical pragmatism. I then offer some suggestions and ask some questions, emanating from the classical pragmatists C.S. Peirce, C.I. Lewis, and F.P. Ramsey, about Thomasson’s thoughts about truth and her thoughts about ethics. Along the way, I address what I take to be the most pressing question for the pragmatist or conceptual engineer: how to properly identify and assess the functions of a concept. I call this the standards problem for conceptual engineering.