Hans Vaihinger
Timothy Stoll,
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
Jan 23, 2020
This is a great overview of a philosopher who was entirely new to me. The influence and importance of Hans Vaihinger is explained well in this article, as are his two major contributions: his two-volume interpretation of Kant (which describes the Critique of Pure Reason as a patchwork), and his Die Philosophie des Als Ob (PAO), which translates to The Philosophy of As-If. This is great stuff, worthy of a 21st century treatment. Drawing on Schopenhauer's idea that the intellect is "a mere tool in the service of the will", Vaihinger argues that the purpose of the intellect "is therefore not "to be a copy [Abbild] of reality," but rather "an instrument for finding our way about more easily in this world." In other words, "the purpose of thought is "to calculate those events that occur without our intervention and to realize our impulses appropriately." That accords well with the contemporary line of thought (with which I concur) that the brain is essentially a prediction engine. For a good object lesson on trusting sources, see also The Quote that Never Was, by Tessa Gengnagel, which is where I got the image.
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