Description
Book SynopsisThis book is the first essay collection on Richard Shusterman, the foremost representative of contemporary pragmatist aesthetics, a philosopher whose books have been translated into more than fifteen languages. The 12 essays, which cover the wide-ranging scope of Shusterman’s pragmatist thought, divide into three sections: Literary Theory and Philosophy of Art; Epistemology, Metaphysics, Ethics, and Politics; and Somaesthetics. Written by an international group of authors from different philosophical perspectives, the book’s essays not only provide a good introduction to Shusterman’s innovative pragmatist theories, but show their useful applications to important and controversial topics in philosophy, politics, religious and gender studies, the arts, and somaesthetics. The book also includes two new texts by Shusterman: an introductory essay in which he explains the trajectory of his intellectual development and a detailed response to the other contributors, which closes the book.
Trade Review"There are few contemporary thinkers in the tradition of American pragmatism as prolific or as creative as Richard Shusterman. His thought and work range from analytic aesthetics to political philosophy, from ethics to the importance of bodily habits in modern society. … Th[is] volume … highlights the remarkable international reception of Shusterman’s ideas. … [it] represents a valuable and unique contribution to contemporary pragmatism. No serious student of Dewey’s pragmatism or of Shusterman’s continually developing project of somaesthetics should be without this book on their shelves." – in: Journal of Aesthetic Education (2014) "the articles of the collection make up a nice read …" – in: Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 28/4
Table of ContentsDorota Koczanowicz and Wojciech Małecki: Introduction Richard Shusterman: A Pragmatist Path through the Play of Limits: from Literature to Somaesthetics Literary Theory and Philosophy of Art Anna Budziak: The Idea of Emotion in T. S. Eliot and in Richard Shusterman Kacper Bartczak: Neo-pragmatist Models of Self-Development and the Poetic Subjectivity in John Ashbery’s Poetry Wojciech Małecki: Challenging the Taboo of the Autobiographical Dorota Koczanowicz: “You Must Change Your Life”: Pragmatism and the Therapeutic Function of Art Epistemology, Metaphysics, Ethics, and Politics Sami Pihlström: Philosophy and Life: Pragmatism, Wittgenstein, and Metaphysics Adam Chmielewski: Faith and the Limits of Fallibilism Don Morse: Erotic Pragmatism: Shusterman’s Deweyan Advances Jerold J. Abrams: Shusterman and the Paradoxes of Superhuman Self-Styling Somaesthetics Monika Bokiniec: “Body Trouble”? Somaesthetics and Feminism Krzysztof Piotr Skowroński: Aesthetics and Corporal Values Robert Dobrowolski: Sampling (No)Body Martin Jay: Somaesthetics and Democracy: Dewey and Contemporary Body Art Richard Shusterman: Continuing Connections: Comments on the Preceding Essays About the Contributors Index
