Description
Book SynopsisDistinguished scholars evaluate the contribution pragmatism can make to a viable naturalism, exploring what distinguishes pragmatic naturalism from other naturalisms. They examine pragmatism’s distinctive form of nonreductive naturalism and consider its merits for the study of religion, democratic theory, and as a general philosophical orientation.
Trade ReviewThis book is a stellar collection of many of the most brilliant and influential philosophers engaged with pragmatism and naturalism. The revival of pragmatism—after its emergence forty years ago—continues in new and nuanced ways as manifest in this gem of a text! -- Cornel West, Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy, Harvard University
This collection of fresh and original papers dealing with pragmatism, naturalism, and religion is great tribute to Wayne Proudfoot, whose writings have inspired a generation of thinkers. Splendid essays deal with Peirce, James, and Dewey as well as with recent debates concerning democracy, the study and philosophy of religion, and the future of pragmatic naturalism. -- Richard J. Bernstein, Vera List Professor of Philosophy, New School for Social Research
This collection shows that many contemporary pragmatist philosophers, like their predecessors Peirce, James, and Dewey, are committed to varieties of antirepresentationalist naturalism, which should be distinguished as clearly from reductive physicalism as it is from absolutisms both religious and rationalist. Bagger’s commentaries, like the essays themselves, are lucid, instructive, and provocative interventions in ongoing debates about the meaning and significance of pragmatism. -- James Kloppenberg, Charles Warren Professor of American History, Harvard University
For anyone interested in the nuances of pragmatic naturalism and the study of religion, this is a must-have collection. The reader learns something on every page. Matthew Bagger has done a magnificent job in gathering this fascinating array of thinkers on the subject. -- Eddie S. Glaude Jr., James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor, Princeton University
The contributors to
Pragmatism and Naturalism address several interwoven questions, ones of great contemporary interest, and address these questions in an erudite, thoughtful, and imaginative manner. In doing so, they clarify not only the meaning of pragmatism and naturalism (no small achievement apart from all else) but also illuminate the meaning of religion itself in light of what pragmatism and naturalism mean for us today. -- Vincent Colapietro, Pennsylvania State University and the Center for the Humanities at URI
The essays in
Pragmatism and Naturalism are excellent examples of the genre by top-notch scholars that speak well to each other and, without question, significantly advance the cause of pragmatism in philosophy, in political theory, and in religious studies. Bagger’s essay on the elective affinity between pragmatism and religious naturalism is both conceptually clear and historically rich, and the essays by Proudfoot and Stout read as mature and polished position pieces by solidly established voices in their respective fields. -- Andrew Dole, Amherst College
Table of ContentsContents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Matthew C. Bagger
Part 1: The Classical Pragmatists and Naturalism1. Instinct and Inquiry: A Reconsideration of Peirce’s Mature Religious Naturalism
Michael L. Raposa
2. Religious Apologetic, Naturalism, and Inquiry in the Thought of William James
Matthew C. Bagger
3. Deweyan Naturalism
Philip Kitcher
Part 2: Pragmatism and the Study of Religion4. Pragmatism, Naturalism, and Genealogy in the Study of Religion
Wayne Proudfoot
5. Language, Method, and Pragmatism in the Study of Religion
Scott Davis
Part 3: Pragmatism and Democracy6. Reading Wayne Proudfoot’s
Religious Experience: Naturalism and the Limits of Democratic Discourse
Jonathon Kahn
7. Public Reason and Dialectical Pragmatism
Jeffrey Stout
Part 4: Pragmatism and the Philosophy of Religion8. The Fate of Radical Empiricism and the Future of Pragmatic Naturalism
Nancy Frankenberry
9. Nonconceptualism and Religious Experience: Kant, Schleiermacher, Proudfoot
Terry F. Godlove
10. The Oracle and the Inner Teacher: Piecemeal Naturalism
James Wetzel
Contributors
Index
