THE TRANSCENDENTAL ARGUMENT IN THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE UNIVERSAL METANORM BY K.-O. APPEL

Abstract

Philosophers have long been in search of a justification for morality. At the same time, they have sought a justification that is, if not universal but at least as meaningful as it can be. However, the problem of ultimate justification concerns not only morality but also other areas of human activity. For this reason, the question of a philosophical argument that will solve the problem of justification is still an open one. In this paper, we aim to highlight the relevance of the problem of the universal justification of morality raised by K.-O.Apel, and to draw attention to the productivity of the transcendental method in this area, since it allows the formulation of successful transcendental arguments for complex systems that are constantly evolving. The article examines the modifications of the transcendental method in Cohen’s neo-Kantianism and in the transcendental pragmatics of Apel and Habermas, clarifies the concepts of self-applicability and reflexivity that allow us to speak of a priori communication, and shows how Apel links intersubjectivity with factuality, which, following Heidegger, he considers to be the prestructure of human existence. Drawing on Apel’s work, we show how performative contradiction demonstrates the transcendence of a priori communication, and how the postulate of self-accountability of reconstructive sciences allows us to reject the postulate of complementarity in the field of the applicability of moral norms. We show how Appel’s transcendental argument justifies that people should be committed to certain norms, since these norms are preconditions for the possibility of discourse, and people, as participants in discourse, cannot rationally avoid these commitments. Appel makes powerful use of the transcendental argument to explore the conditions of human existence, the need for an ethical foundation, and the transcendental necessity of logos. Being used in the context of transcendental pragmatics, the transcendental argument in a certain way provides such justification through reflection as a gradual realization of consensual-communicative rationality.