Pragmatism Books

Book SynopsisDescribed by Hilary Putnam as "both a fine introduction and a significant contribution" to epistemology, and by Anthony Quinton as "at once comprehensive ... and judicious," Evidence and Inquiry is unique both in its scope and in its originality. C. I. Lewis's foundationalism, BonJour's and Davidson's coherentism, Popper's critical rationalism, Quine's naturalism, and Rorty's, Stich's, and Churchland's anti-epistemological neopragmatism all come under Haack's uniquely thorough critical scrutiny. Core epistemological questions about the nature of belief, the character and structure of evidence, the determinants of evidential quality, the relation of justification, probability, and truth, among others, are given refreshingly novel, and reasonable, answers. Most books in epistemology are written only for other epistemologists. But Evidence and Inquiry has proven of interest not only to specialists but also to many other readers, from thoughtful scientists to thoughtful scholars of law and literature. This new, expanded edition-with a substantial new foreword and several additional papers on topics ranging from feminist epistemology to Peirce's critique of the adversarial legal system and Bentham's critique of exclusionary rules of evidence-should attract longtime readers and newcomers alike.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisA full account of the Metaphysical Club, featuring the members'' philosophical writings and four critical essays.The Metaphysical Club, a gathering of intellectuals in the 1870s, is widely recognized as the crucible where pragmatism, America''s distinctively original philosophy, was refined and proclaimed. Louis Menand''s bestseller about the group was a dramatic publishing success. However, only three actual members-Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Charles S. Peirce, and William James-appear in the book, alongside other thinkers who were never in the Club. The Real Metaphysical Club tells the full story of how this influential group shifted the course of philosophy in America. In addition to pioneering pragmatism, the group explored radical empiricism and idealism, and formulated personalism and process philosophy, equally important developments. This volume contains the important writings dating from 1870 to 1885 by the real members of the Metaphysical Club. The first section centers on pragmatism and science; the second part collects writings of the lawyers; and the third part covers idealist and personalist philosophers. Many of these writings have never been reprinted before, and nothing like this impressive collection has ever been attempted. A general introduction provides a narrative history, and the editors'' three introductions to the volume''s sections vividly bring to life the intense meetings, sustained debates, and pioneering thought of the Metaphysical Club.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFocuses on the relationship between American pragmatism and ethics. This book elaborates pragmatism's distinctive contribution to understandings of moral experience, inquiry, and judgment. It shows that moral imagination can be conceived as a process of aesthetic perception and artistic creativity. It sheds light on the nature of moral judgment.Trade Review[F]esmire's book is not only successful, but it also represents a very important addition to the burgeoning field of pragmatist ethics. His emphasis on the importance of moral imagination is a much-needed corrective, given its neglect in the scholarship. Fesmire is to be commended for offering us this fine book.Winter 2005 * Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences *[J]ohn Dewey and Moral Imagination is a most welcome addition to the scholarship of Dewey's moral philosophy.20.1 Journal of Speculative Philosophy2006 * Journal of Speculative Philosophy *[P]rovides a rich reading of the ethical implications of philosophical pragmatism . . . Highly recommended. * Choice *This is an important book that provides a superb treatment of the moral imagination. It should be welcome both as a catalyst for the revitalization of ethics and as a needed clarification of Dewey's moral philosophy. It will be useful to a diverse group of scholars and intellectuals, including philosophers, teachers, politicians, sociologists, cognitive scientists and all those who are concerned with enhancing our opportunities for forging more satisfying communities.Sept. 2004 * Journal of Moral Education *[L]ucid, succinct, and a joy to read. . . . [A] breath of fresh air in the vast literature on traditional ethical theorizing which can be stifling to individuals trying to become moral individuals. * Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy *John Dewey and Moral Imagination sets forth an opportunity for teachers of so-called practical ethics. Fesmire is in effect asking us to find ways to use Dewey's rich account of moral imagination as a tool for the discovery of more intelligent solutions to the specific morally problematic situations we inevitably encounter in the course of experience.April 2005 * Ethics *Table of ContentsPreliminary Table of Contents: AcknowledgmentsList of AbbreviationsIntroduction: Revitalizing EthicsPart 1. Character, Belief, and Intelligence in Classical Pragmatism1. Habit and Character2. The Pragmatic Turn3. Pragmatism's Reconstruction of ReasonPart 2. Moral Imagination4. Imagination in Pragmatist Ethics5. Dramatic Rehearsal6. The Deweyan Ideal7. The Moral ArtistNotesBibliographyIndex

Read more less

Book SynopsisPragmatism and its consequences are central issues in American politics. This title explores the subject and makes a case for adopting a pragmatist approach to democratic politics - and for giving priority to democracy in the process of selecting and reforming political institutions.Trade Review"Overall, this study is a deeply considered, well argued contribution to contemporary debates about the relationship between democratic processes and context in normative political theory."--Hussein Banai, Political Studies Review "The Priority of Democracy is the result of a long and productive partnership between two serious and seriously smart scholars. Much in the book will be familiar to readers who have been following the article trail of these two over the last 20 years. But nothing to my knowledge puts it all together into a full theory of democracy like this book. Unlike so many books these days, it is not a collection of their greatest hits marketed as a coherent whole. It is a real book that benefits from being read from beginning to end."--Simone Chambers, Perspectives on Politics "[T]he book is a significant contribution to the academic literature on democratic politics and institutional design, one that will hopefully inspire critical response and perhaps some experimentation with democratic institutions."--Shane J. Ralston, Philosophy in ReviewTable of ContentsPreface ix Part One Chapter 1: Preliminaries 1 Chapter 2: Pragmatism and the Problem of Institutional Design 25 Chapter 3: The Appeal of Decentralization 51 Part Two Chapter 4: The Priority of Democracy and the Burden of Justification 93 Chapter 5: Reconsidering the Role of Political Argument in Democratic Politics 128 Chapter 6: Refining Reflexivity 167 Part Three Chapter 7: Formal Conditions: Institutionalizing Liberal Guarantees 193 Chapter 8: Substantive Conditions: Pragmatism and Effectiveness 222 Chapter 9: Conclusion 256 References 287 Index 307

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Search for Unity in Diversity examines the traditional readings of John Dewey''s relationship to Hegel and demonstrates that Dewey''s later pragmatism was a development of the historicist/humanistic Hegel, rather than a turning away from Hegelian philosophy. Good argues that Dewey drew upon resources he found in the writings of St. Louis Hegelians to fashion a non-metaphysical reading of Hegel. A Search for Unity in Diversity reasons that Hegel encouraged Dewey to understand philosophy as an exercise in individual and cultural reconstruction. Beyond exposing fatal flaws in the traditional reading of Dewey''s relationship to Hegel, Good shows that Dewey''s pragmatism is a development, rather than a rejection, of Hegel''s philosophy. This not only explains Dewey''s Hegelian deposit, it also sheds light on why recent Hegel scholars have found elements of pragmatism in Hegel''s thought and provides grounds for rapprochment between American pragmatism and Continental European philosophy.Trade ReviewWith a rare and impressive blend of philosophical sophistication and historical scholarship James Good sheds a penetrating light on John Dewey’s intellectual indebtedness to Hegel, a subject of considerable controversy among Deweyan scholars and biographers. Good’s judicious handling of this contentious topic makes A Search for Unity in Diversity a book that is bound to interest not only Dewey's many critics and admirers but all who are broadly interested in the history and current status of American philosophy. -- Phillip W. Jackson, University of ChicagoIn this work of broad reach and meticulous scholarship, James A. Good illuminates one of the most obscured issues in the history of late nineteenth and early twentieth century philosophy: John Dewey’s relationship to the intellectual legacy of G. W. F. Hegel. His arguments are both novel and convincing. Good is certain to alter the way we think about American philosophy. -- Larry A. Hickman, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleThe standard account of John Dewey’s philosophical development has always presented his break with Hegelianism as one of the central junctures of his career. Dewey himself testified to the importance of this break, which has made its stark factuality seem all the more indisputable. But, as James Good shows in this fascinating and meticulous study, such an assertion depends upon an imperfect understanding of Hegel, and a failure to recognize that there was a permanent “Hegelian deposit” that continued to be an essential factor in the shaping of Dewey’s mature thinking. Good confronts us with the embarrassing possibility that we have fallen into a most un-Deweyan form of dualism in the way we think about the philosopher’s shift “from absolutism to experimentalism.” In doing so, Good also confronts us with the extent to which we have misconstrued and underestimated Hegel’s enduring influence on, and in, American intellectual life. One hopes that the appearance of this valuable book will begin to reverse that state of affairs. -- Wilfred M. McClay, University of OklahomaJames Good makes a compelling case that the 'Hegelian deposit' in John Dewey's thinking was not only a deeper and more persistent vein than others have contended, but also a different, and richer, sort of ore than most have recognized. His is a splendid, eye-opening contribution to American intellectual history, and a welcome case for a Dewey—and a Hegel—who have much still to offer an unsparing yet hopeful cultural criticism. -- Robert Westbrook, professor of history, University of Rochester; author of John Dewey and American DemocracyBy tracing many of John Dewey's most powerful ideas (including his theory of inquiry, holism, functionalism, and even Dewey's approach to experience) to their origin in Hegel, Jim Good's remarkable book opens up new horizons in Deweyan scholarship. Good shows in detail how Dewey reconstructed Hegel into a robust naturalistic pragmatism. Those unfamiliar with Hegel's philosophy will appreciate Good's clear and crisp exposition. Those who already feel comfortable with Dewey's thought will be surprised at how easy they can grasp Hegel. -- Jim Garrison, Virginia TechTable of ContentsChapter 1 Abbreviations Chapter 2 Preface Chapter 3 Acknowledgments Chapter 4 The Humanist/Historicist Hegel Chapter 5 American Hegelianism, 1830-1900 Chapter 6 Dewey in Burlington and Baltimore, 1859-1884 Chapter 7 Dewey in Michigan, 1884-1894 Chapter 8 Dewey's Transitional Years, 1894-1904 Chapter 9 From Actualism to Brutalism, 1904-1916 Chapter 10 Selected Bibliography Chapter 11 Index Chapter 12 About the Author

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Search for Unity in Diversity examines the traditional readings of John Dewey''s relationship to Hegel and demonstrates that Dewey''s later pragmatism was a development of the historicist/humanistic Hegel, rather than a turning away from Hegelian philosophy. Good argues that Dewey drew upon resources he found in the writings of St. Louis Hegelians to fashion a non-metaphysical reading of Hegel. A Search for Unity in Diversity reasons that Hegel encouraged Dewey to understand philosophy as an exercise in individual and cultural reconstruction. Beyond exposing fatal flaws in the traditional reading of Dewey''s relationship to Hegel, Good shows that Dewey''s pragmatism is a development, rather than a rejection, of Hegel''s philosophy. This not only explains Dewey''s Hegelian deposit, it also sheds light on why recent Hegel scholars have found elements of pragmatism in Hegel''s thought and provides grounds for rapprochment between American pragmatism and Continental European philosophy.Trade ReviewWith a rare and impressive blend of philosophical sophistication and historical scholarship James Good sheds a penetrating light on John Dewey’s intellectual indebtedness to Hegel, a subject of considerable controversy among Deweyan scholars and biographers. Good’s judicious handling of this contentious topic makes A Search for Unity in Diversity a book that is bound to interest not only Dewey's many critics and admirers but all who are broadly interested in the history and current status of American philosophy. -- Phillip W. Jackson, University of ChicagoIn this work of broad reach and meticulous scholarship, James A. Good illuminates one of the most obscured issues in the history of late nineteenth and early twentieth century philosophy: John Dewey’s relationship to the intellectual legacy of G. W. F. Hegel. His arguments are both novel and convincing. Good is certain to alter the way we think about American philosophy. -- Larry A. Hickman, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleThe standard account of John Dewey’s philosophical development has always presented his break with Hegelianism as one of the central junctures of his career. Dewey himself testified to the importance of this break, which has made its stark factuality seem all the more indisputable. But, as James Good shows in this fascinating and meticulous study, such an assertion depends upon an imperfect understanding of Hegel, and a failure to recognize that there was a permanent “Hegelian deposit” that continued to be an essential factor in the shaping of Dewey’s mature thinking. Good confronts us with the embarrassing possibility that we have fallen into a most un-Deweyan form of dualism in the way we think about the philosopher’s shift “from absolutism to experimentalism.” In doing so, Good also confronts us with the extent to which we have misconstrued and underestimated Hegel’s enduring influence on, and in, American intellectual life. One hopes that the appearance of this valuable book will begin to reverse that state of affairs. -- Wilfred M. McClay, University of OklahomaJames Good makes a compelling case that the 'Hegelian deposit' in John Dewey's thinking was not only a deeper and more persistent vein than others have contended, but also a different, and richer, sort of ore than most have recognized. His is a splendid, eye-opening contribution to American intellectual history, and a welcome case for a Dewey—and a Hegel—who have much still to offer an unsparing yet hopeful cultural criticism. -- Robert Westbrook, professor of history, University of Rochester; author of John Dewey and American DemocracyBy tracing many of John Dewey's most powerful ideas (including his theory of inquiry, holism, functionalism, and even Dewey's approach to experience) to their origin in Hegel, Jim Good's remarkable book opens up new horizons in Deweyan scholarship. Good shows in detail how Dewey reconstructed Hegel into a robust naturalistic pragmatism. Those unfamiliar with Hegel's philosophy will appreciate Good's clear and crisp exposition. Those who already feel comfortable with Dewey's thought will be surprised at how easy they can grasp Hegel. -- Jim Garrison, Virginia TechTable of ContentsChapter 1 Abbreviations Chapter 2 Preface Chapter 3 Acknowledgments Chapter 4 The Humanist/Historicist Hegel Chapter 5 American Hegelianism, 1830-1900 Chapter 6 Dewey in Burlington and Baltimore, 1859-1884 Chapter 7 Dewey in Michigan, 1884-1894 Chapter 8 Dewey's Transitional Years, 1894-1904 Chapter 9 From Actualism to Brutalism, 1904-1916 Chapter 10 Selected Bibliography Chapter 11 Index Chapter 12 About the Author

Read more less

Book SynopsisShows the relevance of classical pragmatism to recent American philosophy. The author outlines pragmatism's two central claims and then demonstrates how these claims generate views on issues dominating contemporary discussions including the nature of truth, the structure of moral reasoning, and the social role of philosophy.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Belief, Acceptance, and Truth Chapter 3 Human and Infrahuman Continuity Chapter 4 Pragmatism, Pragmatics, and the Philosophy of Language Chapter 5 Moral Conduct and Impartial Intelligence Chapter 6 Metaphysics and Ontology

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book rescues an often misunderstood, underappreciated, and radical John Dewey. It centers on his rejection of traditional epistemology for his original and powerful view of logicwith serious implications for general philosophy, the philosophy of the human sciences, including psychology, and the philosophy of democracy. The goal of this work is not to try to rescue Dewey from his critics, but to rescue Dewey from his friendsfrom those who ignore the implications of Dewey''s naturalism to those influenced by Richard Rorty who take Dewey''s rejection of insurrectionary politics too far. While it is true that Dewey rejected insurrectionary politics and was no fire-eating leftist, his analysis of the present was radical in the sense that it went straight to the roots. Peter T. Manicas examines how this made Dewey''s politics similar to those of Marx in many crucial ways and the positive effort of these essays places Dewey''s naturalism at the forefront, resolving some of the tensions Trade ReviewThis study is stunningly good in more ways than it is possible to summarize briefly: above all, an author, whose erudition is as wide-ranging as his acumen is deep-cutting, has written a timely work in which historical contextualization and philosophical probity are perfectly balanced. John Dewey is rescued by Peter T. Manicas from narrow and reductive readings; thereby he is made available as a truly contemporary contributor to intellectual debates of broad human significance and debates concerning democratic practices and political deliberation, as much as science and inquiry. Dewey's pragmatic naturalism has no more informed, insightful, and indeed eloquent champion than Peter Manicas; and here Manicas is unquestionably at the top of his game. -- Vincent Colapietro, Pennsylvania State UniversityThis collection of essays is an important contribution to this debate and will undoubtedly inspire further discussion about the proper placement of Dewey in the history of political thought. * The Review of Politics *Peter T. Manicas offers his readers a wide-ranging and highly original tour of Dewey's work, set against the backdrop of more than a century of developments in epistemology, political philosophy, and sociology. Confidently evoking a huge cast of characters, and taking on Dewey's friends as well as his foes, he provides fresh insights into the complexities of Dewey's thought and its continuing relevance for democratic life. -- Larry A. Hickman, The Center for Dewey Studies, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleTable of ContentsChapter 1 Table of Contents Chapter 2 Acknowledgments Chapter 3 Introduction Part 4 I: Pragmatism and Science Chapter 5 1. Pragmatic Philosophy of Science and the Charge of Scientism Chapter 6 2. John Dewey and American Psychology Chapter 7 3. John Dewey and American Social Science Chapter 8 4. Culture and Nature Part 9 II: Not Another Epistemology Chapter 10 5. Naturalism and Subjectivism Chapter 11 6. Naturalizing Epistemology: Recent Developments in Psychology and the Sociology of Knowledge Part 12 III: Democracy Chapter 13 7. American Democracy: A New Spirit in the World Chapter 14 8. John Dewey: Anarchism and the Political State Chapter 15 9. Philosophy and Politics: A Historical Approach to Marx and Dewey Chapter 16 10. John Dewey and Problem of Justice Chapter 17 11. Liberalism's Discontent: America in Search for the Past that Never Was Part 18 IV: Why Not Dewey? Chapter 19 12. The Evasion of Philosophy Chapter 20 13. Democratic Hope Chapter 21 14. Analytic Pragmatism Chapter 22 15. Post-Modern Pragmatism Chapter 23 References Chapter 24 Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis engaging work of comparative philosophy brings together American pragmatism and Chinese philosophy in a way that generates new interpretations of Chinese philosophy and a fresh perspective on issues in process philosophy. Through an analysis of key terms, Haiming Wen argues that Chinese philosophical terminology is not simply a retrospective language that through a process of stipulation promises us knowledge of an existing world, but is also an open, prospective vocabulary that through productive associations allows philosophers to realize a desired world. Relying on this productive power of Chinese terminology, Wen introduces a new term: ''Confucian pragmatism.'' Wen convincingly shows that although there is much that distinguishes American pragmatism from Confucian philosophy, there is enough conceptual overlap to make Confucian pragmatism a viable and exciting field of study.Trade ReviewIn this far-reaching and nuanced work, Wen Haiming juxtaposes Chinese philosophy with the American traditions of pragmatic naturalism and process philosophy….this work is simultaneously a piece of critical scholarship and an original contribution to Chinese and comparative philosophy…. In short, the moment to inaugurate a "newborn Chinese philosophical narrative" has arrived (219). This book serves as both an invitation and a rich, suggestive beginning to that project. * Dao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, (Published By Springe *Haiming Wen has provided a lucid and perceptive discussion of the creative dimension of the Confucian tradition by correlating American pragmatism and Chinese thinking. The book is an outstanding contribuiton to comparative philosophy. -- Jiyuan Yu, State University of New York at BuffaloThe publication of Haiming Wen's new book, Confucian Pragmatism as the Art of Contextualizing Personal Experience and the World, is a major contribution to Confucian scholarship....the book brings an entirely fresh and promising new look to Confucian material.Table of ContentsChapter 1 1. The Crisis of Creativity Chapter 2 2. Getting Past the Eclipse of Creativity: Acknowledging the Philosophical Fallacy Chapter 3 3. Intentionality/Meaning (yi) and Confucian Contextual Creativity Chapter 4 4. Feelings (qing) and the Importance of History, Particularity, and Emergence in Context Chapter 5 5. The Contextual Creativity of Key Philosophical Terms Chapter 6 6. Chinese Philosophical Sensibility Chapter 7 7. Chinese Metaphysical Creativity Chapter 8 8. Chinese Epistemological Creativity: Thinking-and-Feeling (Mind) and Experience Chapter 9 9. Confucian Pragmatism as a Post-Modern Comparative Philosophy

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this enlightening and original study on the cultivation of a religious understanding of nature, Leon Niemoczynski applies Charles Sanders Peirce''s thought on metaphysics to ''ecstatic naturalism,'' the philosophical perspective developed by Robert Corrington. Niemoczynski points to Peirce''s phenomenological and metaphysical understanding of possibility-the concept of ''Firstness''-as especially critical to understanding how the divine might be meaningfully encountered in religious experience. He goes on to define his own concept of speculative naturalism, offering a new approach to thinking about nature that joins the essence of pragmatism with the heretical boldness of speculative thought.Trade ReviewIn this brilliant book, Leon Niemoczynski tackles the elusive concept of ground/abyss by a careful analysis of Schelling, Peirce, and Heidegger. The scholarship on all three thinkers is first-rate and shows, in particular, the influence of Schelling on pragmaticism and the Being/Beyng problematic. Using ecstatic naturalism as a hermeneutic template, Niemoczynski grapples with the nature of identity and difference between nature naturing and nature natured. Out of these conceptualizations he has a new way of talking about abduction, god, potencies, and the sacred. The outstanding feature of this book is how he weaves together Schelling's unruly ground, Peirce's Firstness (by far the most profound of Peirce's three categories), and Heidegger's 'middle' period descriptions of the gifting of the holy as enabled by Beyng's hidden and unhidden aspects. Finally, Niemoczynski establishes his own philosophy of pragmatic speculative realism that augments and challenges the framework of ecstatic naturalism. -- Robert S. CorringtonThe real strengths of this book are the detailed analysis that it supplies of Peirce’s concept of possibility and—following scholars like Corrington, Esposito, and Ejsing—the important attempt that it represents to trace connections between Peirce’s metaphysics and Schelling’s system of thought. Niemocyznski’s most significant contribution does not consist in what it adds to our understanding of Peirce’s metaphysics. Instead, it is his attempt to extend Peirce’s ideas and assess their relevance for the philosophy of religion. The book will certainly be of interest to Peirce scholars and specialists in American philosophy, as well as to those theologians and philosophers of religion who recognize the significance of the American intellectual tradition for addressing topics in their field. -- Michael L. Raposa, LeHigh UniversityNiemcozynski's work provides a thoughtful analysis of Peirce's Firstness that makes novel connections to themes from Schellings and Heidegger, a truly constructive endeavor that creatively weaves traditionally disparate American and Continental resources. Theologically, it provides an important alternative philosophical framework to process thought for those who seek more systematically to develop the idea of God's continual becoming. * American Journal of Theology and Philosophy *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book explores the central question of how to cultivate a continued sense of self in the radically changing Chinese society, a question that is highly related to the current ongoing educational reform. If education cannot respond to the problem of students' disconnection from the changing society, learning cannot truly happen in school and the reform will fail. Zhang suggests a philosophy of education that highlights the cultivation of students' unique but inclusive individuality so that students learn how to nurture their own mind in this profoundly changing society rather than becoming empty and lost. The discussion of this proposed question is inspired by the thoughts of the American pragmatist John Dewey and Chinese Confucian scholar Liang Shuming. It is not the author's intention to have a pure philosophical discussion, but rather to refer to their philosophies to help answer the practical question of cultivating individuality in an educational setting during this period of China's modern transition.Trade ReviewThis book combines a succinct philosophical stance with practical implications to address China’s modern transition and education reform. The author is driven by a quest for inclusive individuality amidst far-reaching social changes. Readers are invited to engage in the dialogue with Dewey, Liang and the author to consider the tensions between Confucian tradition and westernization, and between individualism and community living. As I read the book I was captivated by the author’s passionate quest, beginning with the discovery of an absence of the self in her own schooling despite her having met all the demands for high achievement. Despite the speed of social, economic, and cultural changes being widely felt, this book has made a valuable contribution to understanding ongoing continuities. . . .[T]he author presents a salient thesis to highlight the critical difference between a self conducted process of being transformed and a self-transformation process. . . .While the book has opened up many avenues for meaningful intellectual and practical journeying, the conclusion has come back to the vision for China’s education reform with a clear critique of the dominant social culture of exclusive success, which undoubtedly carries global significance for the moral development of all educators in our global village. * Frontiers of Education in China *In 1899 John Dewey declared, 'It is radical conditions which have changed, and only an equally radical change in education suffices.' In this insightful, poignant, and important new book Huajun Zhang responds to Dewey’s call in the context of her own radically changing Chinese society, eschewing both the mindless conformity to tradition or the uncritical embrace of the new so common in contemporary educational discourse in favor of a synthesis that might rescue and sustain the continuity of the self in the midst of rapid and profound social change. This is comparative philosophy of education at its finest. -- Jeff Milligan, Florida State UniversityThis vivid narrative draws on core ideas from John Dewey and Liang Shuming, China’s last Confucian, to develop the concept of an inclusive individuality that can root the self at a time of rapid social change across our globe. Zhang provides a bridge between the educational worlds of China and North America, highlighting profound lessons that can be learned from each side in a dialogue across civilizations. It is an essential read for all those who wish to understand an emerging China. -- Ruth Hayhoe Ph.D, Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of TorontoThis is a unique and timely book about Chinese education, and about education overall. In the drive for competitive edge and “success” in the material world, the true purpose of education, and the true purpose of our living a life, is lost. Education should help us realize who we are, in terms of our authentic unique self, and also in terms of our larger inclusive social self. This process involves intelligence, inner struggles, self-enlightenment, and new pedagogical strategies. This book helps us to ponder educational reforms in China, but also other challenges in education throughout the world. The dialogue between John Dewey and Liang Shuming shows that cultivating our individuality involves many layers: the inner and outer, self and selfless, and self-transformation and social transformation are intricately intertwined. -- Jin Ling, University of MarylandTable of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Individuality in the Rapidly Changing Chinese Society Chapter 2: The Conception of Individuality in Chinese History: Exploring the Ideal Person for a Modern Society Chapter 3: Initiating a Dialogue with John Dewey and Liang Shuming on Individuality Chapter 4: Cultivating Individuality: A Dialogue with John Dewey and Liang Shuming Chapter 5: Cultivating a Unique but Inclusive Individuality Chapter 6: Cultivating Individuality: Narrative as Pedagogy Chapter 7: Cultivating Individuality: A Vision for China’s Education Reform

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThese carefully crafted essays take the measure of current debates about international relations. They confidently guide their readers beyond the usual grand theories to a richly contextual approach that foregrounds tools of experimental inquiry. The contributors furnish ample evidence of the continuing relevance of classical pragmatism to some of the most urgent discussions of our time. -- Larry Hickman, Southern Illinois UniversityTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Foreword Introduction Chapter 1: On Pragmatism and International Relations Chapter 2: Getting Beyond International Relations Theory Chapter 3: Pragmatism, Militarism, and Political Theory Chapter 4: Pragmatism, Peacekeeping, and the Constabulary Force Chapter 5: Justice and global Communities of Inquiry Chapter 6: Science, Values, and Democracy in the Global Climate Change Debate Chapter 7: Obama’s Pragmatism in International Affairs—Appropriate or Appropriation? Chapter 8: Presidential Rhetoric and Pragmatism’s Possibilities Bibliography Index About the Contributors

Read more less

Book SynopsisPractice, Judgment, and the Challenge of Moral and Political Disagreement: A Pragmatist Account offers an account of moral and political disagreement, explaining its nature and showing how we should deal with it. In so doing it strikes a middle path between troublesome dualisms such as those of realism and relativism, rationality and imagination, power and justification. To do so, the book draws on the resources of the pragmatist tradition, claiming that this tradition offers solutions that have for the most part been neglected by the contemporary debate. To prove this claim, the book provides a large account of debates within this tradition and engages its best solutions with contemporary philosophical theories such as perfectionism, critical theory, moral realism, and liberalism. The question of the nature of disagreement is addressed both at the general theoretical level and more specifically with reference to moral and political forms of disagreement. At the more general level, the book proposes a theory of practical rationality based upon the notion of rationality as inquiry. At the second, more specific, level, it aims to show that this conception can solve timely problems that relates to the nature of moral and political reasoning.Trade ReviewFrega’s masterful presentation of the pragmatic alternative to traditional epistemic and transcendental accounts of rationality provides a much needed and highly accessible prescription for the renewal of moral and political life. -- Larry A. Hickman, Southern Illinois University CarbondaleTable of ContentsPreface Introduction Part I. The Sources of a Pragmatist Theory of Rationality Chapter 1: Inquiry as the Logic of Practical Reasoning Chapter 2: From Reasoning to Judgment Part II. Pragmatist Rationality in Morality and Politics Chapter 3: Expressive Inquiry Chapter 4: The Public Sphere Part III. Relativism, Objectivity, and Justification Chapter 5: Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Fact of Relativism Chapter 6: A Pragmatic Theory of Objectivity Chapter 7: Why Justification Matters? Chapter 8: Pragmatism as an Epistemology of Practice

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewJosiah Royce for the Twenty-First Century delivers what it promises: a collection of new essays that show the breadth and depth of Royce's philosophy and make a compelling case for its relevance to the present world. Essays by both prominent Royce scholars and a new generation of interpreters make this volume essential reading for students of Royce and the American philosophical tradition and for those who are seeking critical alternatives to the main trends in contemporary pragmatist, analytic, and Continental philosophies. -- Scott L. Pratt, University of OregonThe editors of this volume call it a rediscovery of Royce’s work—it is more than that. Here one finds a deployment of Royce’s ideas that will surprise any who work with the stereotypical notion that Royce was just an old-fashioned American Hegelian. The essays trace important but less well documented influences on Royce’s work: Leibniz, Kant (in both metaphysics and ethics), Lotze, Nietzsche, and Peirce. More importantly, they place Royce’s ideas in the contemporary setting dealing with issues such as communitarianism, neo-pragmatism, philosophy of mind, linguistic reference, developmental psychology, and philosophy of religion. In doing so, they put Royce into conversation with the likes of Rorty, Brandom, the Churchlands, Searle, Arendt, Margolis, Levinas, and a host of other thinkers. The book is important as a corrective to much that has been written about Royce by uninformed critics, and it is useful in detailing Royce’s ongoing relevance for philosophy in the twenty-first century. -- Douglas Anderson, University of North TexasThe philosophical depth, thickness and significance of Royce’s writing are herein met head-on with these informed and trenchant essays. The authors set Royce smack-in-the-middle of major contemporary philosophical issues, such that the hanging on of shibboleths as to his being trapped in an out-of-date portfolio must now be abandoned. In this book, Royce is philosophically alive and worthy of sustained attention. -- John J. McDermott, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Humanities, Texas A&M UniversityKelly A. Parker’s and Krzysztof Piotr Skowronski’s Josiah Royce for the Twenty-first Century: Historical, Ethical, and Religious Interpretations is a monumental testament to the nascent international revival of Josiah Royce’s philosophy among contemporary philosophers, especially those who are historians of late nineteenth and early twentieth century North American idealism, historians of classical American pragmatism, or contemporary scholars working in pragmatism broadly defined. This collection brings together well-known Royce scholars and scholars who are encountering Royce’s thought for the first time. It is also a good primer on most of the major themes in contemporary Royce scholarship. In addition, several of the contributors offer a much needed historical reinterpretation of Royce’s thought, particularly with respect to his metaphysics, his philosophy of art, and his pragmatism. Moreover, several of the contributors work to bring Royce’s thought into the twenty-first century by identifying the contributions it can make to contemporary epistemology, metaphysics, moral philosophy, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of religion. It also places Royce in conversation not only with the usual suspects – for example, William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, John Dewey, Immanuel Kant, Rudolf Hermann Lotze, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, George Santayana, and George Herbert Mead – but also with thinkers not normally associated with Royce – for example, Richard Rorty and John Searle. -- Dwayne Tunstall, Grand Valley State UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: Contemporary Readings of Josiah Royce Kelly Parker and Krzysztof Piotr Skowronski Part I. Historical Reinterpretations Chapter 1: Psychological, Phenomenological, and Metaphysical Individuality in Royce’s Philosophy Randall E. Auxier Chapter 2: Some Kantian Extrapolations from Royce Marc M. Anderson Chapter 3: Riddles & Resolutions: Infinity, Community and the Absolute in Royce’s Later Philosophy Gary L. Cesarz Chapter 4: Man as Sign and Man as Self-Surrender: Peirce, Royce and an Attempted Trans-valuation of the Concept of Humanity Rossella Fabbrichesi Part II. Ethics: Interpretations of Loyalty Chapter 5: “Loyalty”: Royce’s Post-Kantian, Pragmaticist Conception of Ethics Ludwig Nagl Chapter 6: The Incompleteness of Loyalty Bette J. Manter Chapter 7: Josiah Royce’s Loyalty in the Context of Values and Powers Krzysztof Piotr Skowronski Chapter 8: Training for Loyalty to a Lost Cause as a Method of Royce's Social Pedagogy Zbigniew Ambrozewicz Part III. Religious Philosophy Chapter 9: Searching for Rhymes: Royce’s Idealistic Quest Matthew Caleb Flamm Chapter 10: Pragmatism as Idealist Monotheism: Royce, Rorty and the Pragmatist Philosophy of Religion Claudio Marcelo Viale Chapter 11: Royce and the Recovery of the Personal Thomas O. Buford Chapter 12: Atonement and Eidetic Extinction Kelly A. Parker Part IV. Contemporary Implications Chapter 13: Mind as Personal and Social Narrative of an Embodied Self Jacquelyn Ann K. Kegley Chapter 14: The Fourth Conception of Being and the Problem of Reference Ignas K. Skrupskelis Chapter 15: On Being Loyal (to the Wrong Hegel): Rorty and Royce between Literary Culture and Redemptive Truth Wojciech Malecki Chapter 16: Towards a Roycean Poetics Richard A. S. Hall

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe political project of pragmatism has focused primarily on its defense of democracy as the best political system to maintain and improve human well-being over lifetimes and generations. Pragmatism Politics and Perversity: Democracy and the American Party Battle describes this project of Peirce, Dewey, Hook, and Rorty, and combines it with Charles Beard's study of the party battle as the most determinative influence upon American democracy. The book updates and confirms Beard's hypothesis that the history of the party battle is a chronicle of perverse schemes and self-inflicted wounds the most salient to date being the American Civil War because it reflects a ceaselessly disruptive contest over the creation of two largely incompatible political states: nation state and market state. The book supports its thesis with detailed historical accounts of the formation of the Constitution and early federal judiciary, the sedition trials and political schemes of the 1790s, the frustrationTrade ReviewEsposito has written a fascinating and important book. It combines a pragmatic perspective on political practice and its products with a revisionist view of America’s political history—especially in the context of the onset and aftermath of the Civil War. The historical basis of the book is solid and its perspectives novel and thought-provoking. It affords a guide and goad to intelligent political discussion. -- Nicholas RescherFirst, [Esposito] provides a theoretical overview of the philosophical tradition of pragmatism, and seeks to place historian Charles A. Beard's arguments about the economic circumstances of America's founding fathers squarely within this tradition. Second, he offers a novel--and idiosyncratic--interpretation of American history from the Revolution to Reconstruction as a battle among competing views of America as a commercial empire or a democratic republic. Finally, he argues for a normative update of free speech doctrines as necessarily requiring reasoned explanations....As a contribution to pragmatic and democratic theory, the book is successful; the author's call for a rejection of "passive free speech" in order to ward off "perverse politics" should be taken seriously. Recommended for specialized collections. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate and research collections. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsIntroduction Part I. Toward a Pragmatic Theory of Democracy Chapter 1: Pragmatism and the Democracy Project Chapter 2: Pragmatic Political History Part II. Perverse Themes and Schemes in Party Battle History Chapter 3: A Foundation on a Serbonian Bog Chapter 4: Market State and Nation State Chapter 5: A Judiciary for the Market State Chapter 6: Rogue Justice Chapter 7: Too Much Democracy Chapter 8: Judicial Review as Ideology Chapter 9: Religion and Race Chapter 10: Old Wine in New Bottles Chapter 11: Rewriting History Chapter 12: The Great Kansas Charade Chapter 13: Free Labor and the Economics of Slavery Chapter 14: Civil War Chapter 15: Disorder in the Court Part III. Improving American Democracy Chapter 16: Understanding the Party Battle Chapter 17: Free Speech in the Age of the Big Megaphone

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book outlines the generalist approach to conflict resolution. The approach was inspired by the generalist approach to social work but has now emerged in the fields of conflict resolution and peace studies. Essentially, the approach considers conflict resolution practice and scholarship very broadly. Generalist scholarship and practice are contrasted against specialized ways of conducting conflict resolution, whereby practitioners become well versed in one mode of practice or a specific theoretical orientation to scholarship. Several theories provide a foundation for this inclusive approach: conflict transformation, eco-systemic scholarship, the strengths perspective, and a new theory of social conflict, the theory of differences. The generalist approach is intended to provide a way for conflict resolution and peace studies scholar-practitioners to help diverse parties address complex conflicts at various levels (personal to international). Generalist scholar-practitioners assistTrade ReviewWith an engaging and easy to read narrative style throughout, Hansen clearly intends this guidebook to be a working manual for practitioners and scholars alike, rather than simply a scholastic work. ... The Generalist Approach to Conflict Resolution: A Guidebook has value for students, new practitioners and experts in the field of conflict resolution. The information presented, from a strong theoretical framework to well-analyzed examples and case studies, can be helpful at any career stage to support both research and application. * ACResolution: The Quarterly Magazine of the Association for Conflict Resolution *When reading Toran Hansen’s bold and important manuscript on The Generalist Approach to Conflict Resolution, I couldn’t help but be struck by how compatible his collaborative, egalitarian and compassionate approach is to the values and strategies of the Scholarship of Engagement. By calling for scholar-practitioners to bridge the gap between the theory and practice and to operate as a “resource guide” in true partnership with conflict clients, Hansen has courageously called for conflict resolvers to place as much emphasis on their diagnostic competencies as to their proposed interventions. Perhaps this book will develop the same respect for scholar-practitioners who practice the generalist “ways of doing” and “ways of being” as their esteemed counterpart General Practitioner in the Medical Profession. -- Neil H. Katz, Syracuse University, Professor EmeritusIn his The Generalist Approach to Conflict Resolution, Dr. Toran Hansen issues an invitation to consider a new, broaden yet structured and scientifically sound approach to the scholarship and practice of conflict resolution: the Generalist approach. Timely and engaging, this work addresses one of the key questions which our field continues to wrestle with: is an overall approach to resolving many different kinds of conflict possible? To that end, what is the best way to assist those who come to us for guidance? Inspired by the generalist approach to social work, Hansen’s framework can help resolve a key dilemma in the field, which is providing clients with a variety of conflict resolution tools from which to choose. Hansen’s framework is compelling, structured yet flexible and will be of great use to scholars and practitioners alike. -- Cheryl Duckworth, Nova Southeastern UniversityTable of ContentsList of Figures and Boxes Preface Chapter 1: Introduction to the Generalist Approach Chapter 2: Theoretical Foundations of the Generalist Approach Chapter 3: The Role of Scholar-Practitioners in the Generalist Approach Chapter 4: Intake and Analysis Chapter 5: Decision-making: The Locus for and Magnitude of Desired Change (The Overall Scope) Chapter 6: Decision-Making: Intervention Processes Chapter 7: Decision-Making: Practice Theories, Models, and Techniques Chapter 8: Implementation Chapter 9: Single Systems Research Designs, Evaluation, and Follow-Up Chapter 10: The Framework for the Generalist Approach to Conflict Resolution with Examples Chapter 11: Challenges and Opportunities in the Generalist Approach to Conflict Resolution Appendix 1: A sample intake form References

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPragmatism and the Philosophy of Sport argues quite successfully for what every athlete and pragmatist must know: that through the lived embodied experience of sport, we can find the validity in our own higher truths. The authors, each a practicing athlete/philosopher, cultivate a theoretical landscape of accessible philosophy through the framing of applied sports experiences. For the student of philosophy or the introspective athlete, this text is an honest, enlightening, and pleasure full romp through the 'practical consequences' of thinking about how and why we play these games. -- Scott Tinley, PhD, Two-time Ironman World ChampionPhilosophy and sports go well together, and this book opens up the deep connections between pragmatism and physical activity. The authors are athletes who use their experiences as portals into the thought of the classical pragmatists as well as exploring their own lives of inquiry and action. -- Roger Ward, Georgetown CollegeThe classical American pragmatists supplied rich resources for philosophical meditation on the nature and meaning of sport, not least of all, because of their insistence on the seamless continuity between human thought and action. Curiously, such philosophizing has been rare, the use of pragmatism for the express purpose of understanding athletic training and competition infrequent. This remarkable collection of essays fills the gap, offering multiple pragmatic perspectives on a variety of topics in the philosophy of sport. In discussions ranging from a Peircean analysis of coaching to a Roycean evaluation of Lebron James’s signing with Miami Heat, this book will delight readers with the rich diversity of its contents, nevertheless unified by the constant appeal to pragmatism as a touchstone. This may be the most important book about the philosophy of sport published since Paul Weiss’s landmark treatment of the topic in 1971. -- Michael L. Raposa, LeHigh UniversityThis volume is not part of any existing series of books on philosophy and popular culture. For discussion of such series, see D. Stewart's "Holy Toledo, Batman, We're Philosophers!: Popular Culture for Thinkers," Choice 48(8), April 2011. However, this collection of essays shares with these series the intent to explore the philosophical relevance of nonphilosophical activities. Setting this book apart is its ten contributors' approach to the topic from a single philosophical perspective--pragmatism, as found in the writings of such philosophers as William James, C. S. Peirce, John Dewey, and more recently neopragmatist Richard Rorty. The radical empiricism of William James elevates the importance of knowledge by acquaintance over "knowledge about," or what might be called skill knowledge rather than propositional knowledge. For pragmatists, the phenomenological category of lived experience is more important to understanding sport than is mere conceptual knowledge. The self is an embodied self, rather than a transcendental ego or disembodied cogito. Topics featured in the essays include sports feminism, coaching, self-cultivation, movement, and sports injuries. Sport is not just about competition or winning, but about self-development and self-understanding. These essays show how philosophy can enhance one's understanding of these aspects. Summing Up: Recommended. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsAbout the Cover Photo Introduction: Pragmatism and the Seasoned Practitioner — Richard Lally Chapter 1: Process and the Sport Experience—Douglas R. Hochstetler Chapter 2: Peircean Reflections on the Personality of a Fútbol Club—Daniel Campos Chapter 3: Paddling in the Stream of Consciousness—John Kaag Chapter 4: Running in Place: Significance on the Treadmill?—Doug Hochstetler Chapter 5: Where Should LeBron’s Loyalty Lie? Where Should Ours?—Mathew A. Foust Chapter 6: Agapastic Coaching—Tim Elcombe Chapter 7: Gender, Sports and the Ethics of Teammates—Brent Crouch Chapter 8: Dick Butkus, Pragmatism, and Performance Art—Douglas Anderson Chapter 9: Towards a Somatic Sport Feminism—Joan Grassbaugh Forry Chapter 10: Living the Injury—Jill Tracey Chapter 11: Deweyan Pragmatism and Self-Cultivation—Richard Lally

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPersuasion and Compulsion in Democracy is a thought-provoking collection of chapters on current democratic theory. The authors start with a recognition of familiar critiques of liberal and deliberative democracy theories, and draw upon pragmatist frameworks to explore themes of agonistic discourse, coercion, deception, hegemony, and the radical situatedness of persons and political causes. This is an exciting resource for those who would seriously consider the forms and processes of democracy in the twenty-first century. -- Kelly A. Parker, Grand Valley State UniversityTable of ContentsPreface: New Visions and Public Actions Introduction: Re-assessing Compulsion and Persuasion in Democracy via a New Framework Part I: Public Issues Chapter 1: Between Rhetoric and Dialectic: On Persuasion and Other Compulsive Habits in Democracy Chapter 2: Democracy, Persuasion, or Inclusion?: The Sense of a Crisis Chapter 3: Compulsion and Persuasion in a Democracy of Split Levels Chapter 4: Hegemony, Social Inquiry, and the Primacy of Practical Reason Part II: Theoretical Matters Chapter 5: Keeping Radical Democracy Pragmatic: The Vanishing Subject in Laclau and Mouffe’s Politics of the Real Chapter 6: A Good Citizen: The Forlorn Hope of Freedom and Rational persuasion Beyond Compulsion – A Pragmatist View Chapter 7: Pragmatist Philosophy and Persuasive Discourse: Dewey and Rorty on the Role of Non-Logical Changes in Belief Chapter 8: Constructivist Problems, Realist Solutions Part III: Actions Chapter 9: A Pragmatist Communicative Ethics for Politics and Everyday Life: Persuasion and Compulsion in Democracy Chapter 10: Persuasion and Compulsion in Radical Democracy: Some Insights from John Dewey Chapter 11: Aesthetic Persuasion and Political Compulsion: Literary Philosophy in Light of Richard Rorty’s Ideas of Democratic Liberalism and Cultural Politics Chapter 12: The Global Learning Chain and Baltimore City’s Filipino Teachers: Persuasion and Compulsion in the Classroom Chapter 13: Persuasion and Compulsion in Democratic Urban Planning Index About the Contributors

Read more less

Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPragmatism and the Philosophy of Sport argues quite successfully for what every athlete and pragmatist must know: that through the lived embodied experience of sport, we can find the validity in our own higher truths. The authors, each a practicing athlete/philosopher, cultivate a theoretical landscape of accessible philosophy through the framing of applied sports experiences. For the student of philosophy or the introspective athlete, this text is an honest, enlightening, and pleasure full romp through the 'practical consequences' of thinking about how and why we play these games. -- Scott Tinley, PhD, Two-time Ironman World ChampionPhilosophy and sports go well together, and this book opens up the deep connections between pragmatism and physical activity. The authors are athletes who use their experiences as portals into the thought of the classical pragmatists as well as exploring their own lives of inquiry and action. -- Roger Ward, Georgetown CollegeThe classical American pragmatists supplied rich resources for philosophical meditation on the nature and meaning of sport, not least of all, because of their insistence on the seamless continuity between human thought and action. Curiously, such philosophizing has been rare, the use of pragmatism for the express purpose of understanding athletic training and competition infrequent. This remarkable collection of essays fills the gap, offering multiple pragmatic perspectives on a variety of topics in the philosophy of sport. In discussions ranging from a Peircean analysis of coaching to a Roycean evaluation of Lebron James’s signing with Miami Heat, this book will delight readers with the rich diversity of its contents, nevertheless unified by the constant appeal to pragmatism as a touchstone. This may be the most important book about the philosophy of sport published since Paul Weiss’s landmark treatment of the topic in 1971. -- Michael L. Raposa, LeHigh UniversityThis volume is not part of any existing series of books on philosophy and popular culture. For discussion of such series, see D. Stewart's "Holy Toledo, Batman, We're Philosophers!: Popular Culture for Thinkers," Choice 48(8), April 2011. However, this collection of essays shares with these series the intent to explore the philosophical relevance of nonphilosophical activities. Setting this book apart is its ten contributors' approach to the topic from a single philosophical perspective--pragmatism, as found in the writings of such philosophers as William James, C. S. Peirce, John Dewey, and more recently neopragmatist Richard Rorty. The radical empiricism of William James elevates the importance of knowledge by acquaintance over "knowledge about," or what might be called skill knowledge rather than propositional knowledge. For pragmatists, the phenomenological category of lived experience is more important to understanding sport than is mere conceptual knowledge. The self is an embodied self, rather than a transcendental ego or disembodied cogito. Topics featured in the essays include sports feminism, coaching, self-cultivation, movement, and sports injuries. Sport is not just about competition or winning, but about self-development and self-understanding. These essays show how philosophy can enhance one's understanding of these aspects. Summing Up: Recommended. * CHOICE *Table of ContentsAbout the Cover Photo Introduction: Pragmatism and the Seasoned Practitioner — Richard Lally Chapter 1: Process and the Sport Experience—Douglas R. Hochstetler Chapter 2: Peircean Reflections on the Personality of a Fútbol Club—Daniel Campos Chapter 3: Paddling in the Stream of Consciousness—John Kaag Chapter 4: Running in Place: Significance on the Treadmill?—Doug Hochstetler Chapter 5: Where Should LeBron’s Loyalty Lie? Where Should Ours?—Mathew A. Foust Chapter 6: Agapastic Coaching—Tim Elcombe Chapter 7: Gender, Sports and the Ethics of Teammates—Brent Crouch Chapter 8: Dick Butkus, Pragmatism, and Performance Art—Douglas Anderson Chapter 9: Towards a Somatic Sport Feminism—Joan Grassbaugh Forry Chapter 10: Living the Injury—Jill Tracey Chapter 11: Deweyan Pragmatism and Self-Cultivation—Richard Lally

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book details a pragmatic approach to the ethical and religious implications of a Darwinian perspective, drawing on the work of thinkers both secular and religious. The approach taken by James, Santayana, Addams, and Dewey should be of interest to scholars of religious naturalism and humanistic ethics.Trade ReviewIn Evolutionary Pragmatism and Ethics Beth L. Eddy does American Pragmatism a service by exploring many of the debates concerning evolutionary science prevalent during the formative years of classical Pragmatism.... Eddy’s concise and readable book focuses mostly on the assimilation of evolutionary theory by John Dewey, Jane Addams, and Pragmatism’s interlocutor and ally, George Santayana. Eddy clearly lays out how evolutionary science, in its infancy, was part of the public and philosophic debate.... Eddy’s book will be of interest not only for those who have an interest in the history of Pragmatism but also for scholars interested in how ideas from the sciences are digested in the complex milieu of society. * Contemporary Pragmatism *By highlighting the roles of Spencer, Huxley, and others, Eddy provides some much-needed context for pragmatist evolutionary ethics. * Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society *What are the ethical implications of taking Darwin seriously? Evolutionary Pragmatism and Ethics is a richly informative history of responses to this question. As a scholar, Eddy brilliantly extends the previous generation’s attempt to reconfigure the pragmatist canon. As a writer of elegant prose, she is in the company of Midgley and Menand. If you want to understand how American pragmatists such as Dewey, Addams, and Gould differ from social Darwinians and the so-called new atheists, this is where to start. -- Jeffrey Stout, author of Democracy and TraditionBeth Eddy’s recovery of the early pragmatists offers a powerful meditation on the ethical implications of pragmatism. The focus is on Chicago, and thus John Dewey and Jane Addams, but the stage is much broader and includes Darwin, T. H. Huxley, Santayana, Spencer, and S. J. Gould. This is intellectual history at its best—full of philosophical rigor, sophisticated in its grasp of the science and religion milieu throughout the twentieth century, and steeped in the moral life and issues that continue well into the twenty-first century. In Chapters 4 and 5 Eddy gives us the most clear and up-to-date account of the remarkable story of Jane Addams that I know of. -- Nancy Frankenberry, John Phillips Professor of Religion Emerita, Dartmouth CollegeTable of ContentsChapter One Setting the Stage: Darwin and 19th Century Evolutionary Ethics and Theologies Chapter Two T. H. Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics Chapter Three John Dewey in Conversation with Huxley and Santayana on Evolution and Ethics Chapter Four Struggle or Mutual Aid: Jane Addams and the Progressive Encounter with Social Darwinism Chapter Five Jane Addams, John Dewey, and the Evolutionary Tension Points Chapter Six Contemporary Controversies over Chance and Teleology

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this remarkable work, Roger Lundin seeks the source of American moral and cultural authority in the shift from nature to experience figured in the thought of Ralph Waldo Emerson. While the pragmatic tradition concludes that experience must generate the very light that will lead us out of its own darkness, From Nature to Experience returns to religion for illumination and truth. This is a story of nineteenth-century sources and twenty-first century consequences in which literature, history, philosophy, and theology are joined in order to form a truly original critique of American culture.Trade ReviewRoger Lundin's 'story of nineteenth-century sources and twenty-first-century consequences' narrates the American disenchantment of nature and the ensuing rise (and fall) of experience with admirable subtlety; along the way offering a devastating deconstruction of that ongoing philosophical champion of experience, pragmatism. * Cultural Encounters *Lundin has written a brilliant, incredibly comprehensive, and erudite account of American idealism as rooted in sheer experience disconnected from God and the Good. He shows that our idealists—from Emerson through our earlier pragmatists such as William James and Dewey and our contemporary 'neopragmatists' (such as Rorty)—participate in a project that is somehow both Protestant and post-Christian, a sort of Christianity both without Christ and without any conception for the real human persons. This project, in Rorty's hands, claims to be Nietzschean, but Lundin better appropriates what's true and noble about Nietzscheans' criticism of the soft mendacity of modern democracy: We should have nothing but contempt for vague Christian sentiment divorced from Christian belief. -- Peter Augustine Lawler, Berry CollegeIn this remarkable book, Roger Lundin diagnoses the dangers inherent in the American dream of overcoming the harsh limits of history and the thick densities of religion in favor of direct, unmediated experience of the Ultimate. From Emerson and Thoreau to James and Dewey forward to Richard Rorty and Stanley Fish, he traces our dark descent into the abyss of gnostic individualism. Yet Lundin writes no mere jeremiad. He points, instead, to a way out of our tragedy-and-tradition denying culture—through the witness made by Hawthorne and Melville, Faulkner and Auden, Gadamer and Bonhoeffer and Barth. -- Ralph C. Wood, University Professor of Theology and Literature, Baylor UniversityLundin does nothing less than provide extraordinary readings of Emerson and William James to set the American loss of authority in terms of a dialectic between nature and experience. Lundin then exposes the limits of that dialectic through masterful reading of literary theory represented by New Criticism, issues in authorial intentionality, and the challenge Faulkner presents for understanding our lives. Drawing on fiction and poetry, Lundin illumines the philosophical issues he explores while never losing the thread of argument. This could well be one of the more important books written in recent times, and hopefully it will receive the wide readership it so richly deserves. -- Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke University Divinity SchoolRoger Lundin has provided a powerful 'genealogy of moral authority.' -- Mark Noll * Christianity Today *In this immensely moving, intelligent, and beautifully written book, Roger Lundin considers 'the shift from nature to experience as the locus of authority in American culture' from Emerson to (say) Don De Lillo. His thesis is contentious. Other scholars of American culture might offer as its God-term such rival values as culture, history, society, or language. I can imagine a spirited conversation on the issue. One or two scholars might even claim that nature has not been superseded—not entirely—by experience, and might quote evidence from Thoreau to Richard Wilbur. No matter. Lundin has made a formidable case: his companions in the debate will find it a difficult case to refute. -- Denis Donoghue, Henry James Professor in English and American Letters, New York UniversityThis book is an important contribution to the study of the history of American pragmatism, modern methods of literary criticism and hermeneutics, and 20th-century Protestant theology. . . . Highly recommended. Graduate and research collections. * CHOICE *Full of striking insight. * First Things *A thoroughly documented, closely reasoned critique of the religious and literary temperament of Europe and the United States during the last two centuries. -- John Harmon McElroy * Touchstone: A Journal Of Mere Christianity *Re-enchanting Emerson for a post-critical America while simultaneously reasserting the possibility of a supernatural source of authority beyond history, From Nature to Experience is itself an exemplary work of the critical (and hopeful) imagination. -- Harold K. Bush * Books and Culture *From Nature to Experience is both learned and provocative. -- Maurice S. Lee * Journal of American History *Lundin is to be commended for his book's scope. . . . Lundin demonstrates considerable talent in unraveling the complex story of cultural authority's shift from nature and revealed religion to personal experience. . . . From Nature to Experience is one of the best examples of a work written from a religious perspective on a subject whose scholars tend to err on the side of freethinking. . . . Lundin has produced a truly inspiring addition to the field of American intellectual history. * H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online *From Nature to Experience charts the development and weighs the consequences of American pragmatism. . . . Lundin's book is convincing and frequently quite moving. . . . As it stands From Nature to Experience registers as a modest, yet uncompromising, brief against pragmatism and the consequences of its place as American culture's status quo. * Journal of Religion *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: The Preferences of Eden Chapter 2: Delivered to the Dream: Emerson and the Pathways of Pragmatism Chapter 3: Reading the Blooming Confusion: William James and the Theology of Experience Chapter 4: Diminished Things: Literature and the Disenchantment of the World Chapter 5: Divining Lives Chapter 6: Intentional Ironies Chapter 7: The Truth Beyond Method: Fiction at the Limits of Experience Conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this remarkable work, Roger Lundin seeks the source of American moral and cultural authority in the shift from nature to experience figured in the thought of Ralph Waldo Emerson. While the pragmatic tradition concludes that experience must generate the very light that will lead us out of its own darkness, From Nature to Experience returns to religion for illumination and truth. This is a story of nineteenth-century sources and twenty-first century consequences in which literature, history, philosophy, and theology are joined in order to form a truly original critique of American culture.Trade ReviewRoger Lundin's 'story of nineteenth-century sources and twenty-first-century consequences' narrates the American disenchantment of nature and the ensuing rise (and fall) of experience with admirable subtlety; along the way offering a devastating deconstruction of that ongoing philosophical champion of experience, pragmatism. * Cultural Encounters *Lundin has written a brilliant, incredibly comprehensive, and erudite account of American idealism as rooted in sheer experience disconnected from God and the Good. He shows that our idealists—from Emerson through our earlier pragmatists such as William James and Dewey and our contemporary 'neopragmatists' (such as Rorty)—participate in a project that is somehow both Protestant and post-Christian, a sort of Christianity both without Christ and without any conception for the real human persons. This project, in Rorty's hands, claims to be Nietzschean, but Lundin better appropriates what's true and noble about Nietzscheans' criticism of the soft mendacity of modern democracy: We should have nothing but contempt for vague Christian sentiment divorced from Christian belief. -- Peter Augustine Lawler, Berry CollegeIn this remarkable book, Roger Lundin diagnoses the dangers inherent in the American dream of overcoming the harsh limits of history and the thick densities of religion in favor of direct, unmediated experience of the Ultimate. From Emerson and Thoreau to James and Dewey forward to Richard Rorty and Stanley Fish, he traces our dark descent into the abyss of gnostic individualism. Yet Lundin writes no mere jeremiad. He points, instead, to a way out of our tragedy-and-tradition denying culture—through the witness made by Hawthorne and Melville, Faulkner and Auden, Gadamer and Bonhoeffer and Barth. -- Ralph C. Wood, University Professor of Theology and Literature, Baylor UniversityLundin does nothing less than provide extraordinary readings of Emerson and William James to set the American loss of authority in terms of a dialectic between nature and experience. Lundin then exposes the limits of that dialectic through masterful reading of literary theory represented by New Criticism, issues in authorial intentionality, and the challenge Faulkner presents for understanding our lives. Drawing on fiction and poetry, Lundin illumines the philosophical issues he explores while never losing the thread of argument. This could well be one of the more important books written in recent times, and hopefully it will receive the wide readership it so richly deserves. -- Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke University Divinity SchoolRoger Lundin has provided a powerful 'genealogy of moral authority.' -- Mark Noll * Christianity Today *In this immensely moving, intelligent, and beautifully written book, Roger Lundin considers 'the shift from nature to experience as the locus of authority in American culture' from Emerson to (say) Don De Lillo. His thesis is contentious. Other scholars of American culture might offer as its God-term such rival values as culture, history, society, or language. I can imagine a spirited conversation on the issue. One or two scholars might even claim that nature has not been superseded—not entirely—by experience, and might quote evidence from Thoreau to Richard Wilbur. No matter. Lundin has made a formidable case: his companions in the debate will find it a difficult case to refute. -- Denis Donoghue, Henry James Professor in English and American Letters, New York UniversityThis book is an important contribution to the study of the history of American pragmatism, modern methods of literary criticism and hermeneutics, and 20th-century Protestant theology. . . . Highly recommended. Graduate and research collections. * CHOICE *Full of striking insight. * First Things *A thoroughly documented, closely reasoned critique of the religious and literary temperament of Europe and the United States during the last two centuries. -- John Harmon McElroy * Touchstone: A Journal Of Mere Christianity *Re-enchanting Emerson for a post-critical America while simultaneously reasserting the possibility of a supernatural source of authority beyond history, From Nature to Experience is itself an exemplary work of the critical (and hopeful) imagination. -- Harold K. Bush * Books and Culture *From Nature to Experience is both learned and provocative. -- Maurice S. Lee * Journal of American History *Lundin is to be commended for his book's scope. . . . Lundin demonstrates considerable talent in unraveling the complex story of cultural authority's shift from nature and revealed religion to personal experience. . . . From Nature to Experience is one of the best examples of a work written from a religious perspective on a subject whose scholars tend to err on the side of freethinking. . . . Lundin has produced a truly inspiring addition to the field of American intellectual history. * H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online *From Nature to Experience charts the development and weighs the consequences of American pragmatism. . . . Lundin's book is convincing and frequently quite moving. . . . As it stands From Nature to Experience registers as a modest, yet uncompromising, brief against pragmatism and the consequences of its place as American culture's status quo. * Journal of Religion *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: The Preferences of Eden Chapter 2: Delivered to the Dream: Emerson and the Pathways of Pragmatism Chapter 3: Reading the Blooming Confusion: William James and the Theology of Experience Chapter 4: Diminished Things: Literature and the Disenchantment of the World Chapter 5: Divining Lives Chapter 6: Intentional Ironies Chapter 7: The Truth Beyond Method: Fiction at the Limits of Experience Conclusion

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book takes a fresh look at how William James'' (18421910) conceptions of the human mind, death (mortality and immortality), and religion provide us with a viable alternative to many contemporary philosophical approaches. The distinctive Jamesian perspective is illuminated through critical discussions of several different theories and conjectures. The overall argument of this volume is that pragmatist metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of religion must be subordinated to ethics. To provide an historical and philosophical context for this revolutionary conception of the pragmatic method, an introductory discussion of James'' views on pragmatism, realism, and truth is also included. Instead of focusing on the general issues of realism and pragmatism, however, the volume examines the applications of these issues to topics such as death, evil, and other minds. The book is vital reading not only for James scholars and pragmatists, but for anyone thinking seriously about humTrade ReviewPihlstrom has produced a learned, intelligent, and stimulating philosophical book. * Metaphilosophy *Table of ContentsPart 1 Preface Part 2 Acknowledgements Part 3 Abbreviations of Citations Chapter 4 Introduction: William James and the Pragmatist Tradition Chapter 5 Pragmatic and Transcendental Arguments for Theism Chapter 6 James on Death, Mortality, and Immortality Chapter 7 On the Reality of Evil: A Jamesian Investigation Chapter 8 James's Pragmatist Metaphysics of the Mind: Religion, Individualism, and Other Minds Chapter 9 Pragmatism and Personalism Chapter 10 Panpsychism—a Neglected Jamesian Alternative? Chapter 11 Conclusion Part 12 Index Part 13 About the Author

Read more less

Book SynopsisHumanity at the Crossroads attempts to answer questions regarding the effect of technological progress on our lives. This book concludes that the very technology which threatens to destroy us, not merely its more favorable offshoots, is itself the catalyst for that better world we may yet hope to inhabit.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Dedication Introduction Part I: Old Endings and New Beginnings Chapter 1: The Turning Point Chapter 2: The Hinge of Paradox Chapter 3: Beyond the Turning Point Chapter 4: Out of Division and Darkness Chapter 5: Into Unity and Light Chapter 6: The New World on the Horizon Chapter 7: The Law of the Jungle and the Return to Eden Chapter 8: How We Perceive the World Chapter 9: When the Past Resists the Future Chapter 10: Projections and Conclusions Part II: Challenges Along the Way Chapter 11: Problems of Perception and the Transfer of Knowledge Chapter 12: The Problem of Selfish Individualism Chapter 13: The Problem of Accelerating Change Chapter 14: Problems with the Commercial Culture Chapter 15: The Problem of the Larger Context Chapter 16: The Issue of Collective Goods and “Bads” Chapter 17: The Problem of Basic Need Chapter 18: The Problem of Malignant Nationalism Conclusions Bibliography

Read more less

Book SynopsisAlthough long considered the most distinctive American contribution to philosophy, pragmatism - with its problem-solving emphasis and its contingent view of truth - lost popularity in mid-century after the advent of World War II, the horror of the Holocaust, and the dawning of the Cold War. This work provides an introduction to pragmatism.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: Pragmatism Then and Now / Morris Dickstein What Difference Does Pragmatism Make? The View From Philosophy Pragmatism as Romantic Polytheism / Richard Rorty Pragmatism and Realism / Hilary Putnam Response to Hilary Putnam’s “Pragmatism and Realism” / Sidney Morgenbesser The Moral Impulse / Ruth Anna Putnam What’s the Use of Calling Emerson a Pragmatist? / Stanley Cavell Pragmatism and the Remaking of Social Thought Pragmatism: An Old Name for Some New Ways of Thinking? / James T. Kloppenberg Pragmatism and Democracy: Reconstructing the Logic of John Dewey’s Faith / Robert B. Westbrook Community in the Pragmatic Tradition / Richard J. Bernstein Another Pragmatism: Alain Locke, Critical “Race” Theory, and the Politics of Culture / Nancy Fraser Going Astray, Going Forward: Du Boisian Pragmatism and Its Lineage / Ross Posnock The Inspiration of Pragmatism: Some Personal Remarks / Hans Joas The Missing Pragmatic Revival in American Social Science / Alan Wolfe Pragmatism and Its Limits / John Patrick Diggins Pragmatism and Law Pragmatic Adjudication / Richard A. Posner Freestanding Legal Pragmatism / Thomas C. Grey What’s Pragmatic about Legal Pragmatism? / David Luban Pragmatism and Law: A Response to David Luban / Richard Rorty It’s a Positivist, It’s a Pragmatist, It’s a Codifier! Reflections on Nietzsche and Stendhal / Richard H. Weisberg Pragmatism, Pluralism, and Legal Interpretations: Posner’s and Rorty’s Justice without Metaphysics Meets Hate Speech / Michael Rosenfeld Pragmatism, Culture, and Art Why Do Pragmatists Want to Be Like Poets? / Richard Poirier Pragmatists and Poets: A Response to Richard Poirier / Louis Menand The Novelist of Everyday Life / David Bromwich When Mind Is a Verb: Thomas Eakins and the Work of Doing / Ray Carney Religion and the Recent Revival of Pragmatism, Giles Gunn Afterword Truth and Toilets: Pragmatism and the Practices of Life / Stanely Fish Selected Bibliography Contributors Index

Read more less