ARTICLES
The Speculative Method and the Problem of Deduction
Giannis Ninos
Pages 33–52| Published online: 23 September 2024
Ninos, Giannis. 2024. “The Speculative Method and the Problem of Deduction.” Marxism & Sciences 3(2): 33–52.
https://doi.org/10.56063/MS.2408.03210
ABSTRACT
This article examines deduction within the framework of dialectical epistemolo-gy. It starts from the perspective that views dialectic exclusively as systematic dialectic, namely as a speculative method, and explains why deduction in the speculative method differs radically from its conventional understanding. By an-alyzing both induction and deduction, I explore these modes of reasoning through the lens of Hegel’s Science of Logic. Specifically, I employ Hegel’s Logic to examine deduction in both finite cognition and the speculative method. I ar-gue that the immanent deduction, inherent to the speculative method, differs fundamentally from conventional deduction. In this way, I demonstrate that, in the speculative thinking, deduction is not based on given premises and axioms but rather follows the very movement of the self-developing object. Additionally, I point out that the immanent deduction, peculiar to the speculative method, is implicitly interwoven with concrete historicism. In this context, I highlight that the speculative method lacks general applicability, as it is dependent on the spe-cific nature of the subject matter. Similarly, I suggest that the scientific method is object-dependent. In what follows, I underscore the key epistemological as-pects of the speculative method, emphasizing their connection to the enhance-ment of the fundamental functions of knowledge. Based on this analysis, the im-portance of the speculative method for genuine scientific inquiry is stressed.
KEYWORDS: Speculative method, systematic dialectic, deduction, Hegel, Marx, dialectical epistemology, theory of cognition.
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