Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) is regarded as the founding father of pragmatism and a key figure in the development of American philosophy, yet his practical philosophy remains under-acknowledged and misinterpreted. In this book, Richard Atkins argues that Peirce did in fact have developed and systematic views on ethics, on religion, and on how to live, and that these views are both plausible and relevant. Drawing on a controversial lecture that Peirce delivered in 1898 and related works, he examines Peirce's theories of sentiment and instinct, his defence of the rational acceptability of religious belief, his analysis of self-controlled action, and his pragmatic account of practical ethics, showing how he developed his views and how they interact with those of his great contemporary William James. This study will be essential for scholars of Peirce and for those interested in American philosophy, pragmatism, the philosophy of religion, the philosophy of action, and ethics.
Preeminent American philosopher and educator John Dewey (1859-1952) rejected Hegelian idealism for the pragmatism of William James.In this collection of informal, highly readable essays, originally pu
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) is generally considered the most significant American philosopher. He was the founder of pragmatism, the view popularized by William James and John Dewey, that our philosophical theories must be linked to experience and practice. The essays in this volume reveal how Peirce worked through this idea to make important contributions to most branches of philosophy. The topics covered include Peirce's influence; the famous pragmatic maxim and the view of truth and reality arising from it; the question as to whether mathematical, moral and religious hypotheses might aspire to truth; his theories of inquiry and perception; and his contribution to semiotics, statistical inference and deductive logic. New readers will find this the most convenient and accessible guide to Peirce currently available. Advanced students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Peirce.
The postmodern debate has been heavily influenced by often contradictory conclusions about the foundations of knowledge: hermeneutics challenges epistemology, politics challenges science, identity theory challenges critical theory, pragmatism challenges formalism, and so on. Horace Fairlamb contends that philosophy's foundationist quest has usually been misconceived as a choice between a 'super-science' and theoretical anarchy. Through an examination of the history of foundationism, and detailed analysis of the work of leading theorists including Fish, Foucault, Derrida, Gadamer and Habermas, Dr Fairlamb argues for a less reductive and less arbitrary conception of knowledge and meaning. The result in this 1994 book is a sophisticated critique of contemporary theory with implications for philosophers as well as literary theorists, and an important contribution to the re-evaluation of theoretical discourse.
This 2004 book is an accessible introduction to the full range of the philosophy of William James. It portrays that philosophy as containing a deep division between a Promethean type of pragmatism and a passive mysticism. The pragmatist James conceives of truth and meaning as a means to control nature and make it do our bidding. The mystic James eschews the use of concepts in order to penetrate to the inner conscious core of all being, including nature at large. Richard Gale attempts to harmonize these pragmatic and mystical perspectives. This introduction is drawn from and complements the author's much more comprehensive and systematic study The Divided Self of William James, a volume that has received the highest critical praise. With its briefer compass and non-technical style this introduction should help to disseminate the key elements of one of the great modern philosophies to an even wider readership.
In Appeasing Bankers, Jonathan Kirshner shows that bankers dread war--an aversion rooted in pragmatism, not idealism. "Sound money, not war" is hardly a pacifist rallying cry. The financial world valu
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) was an American philosopher, physicist, mathematician, and the founder of pragmatism. Despire his importance in the history of philosophy, a unified statment of his
Normative theory in international relations, as it is discussed at present in the framework of the cosmopolitan/communitarian debate, is in a condition of stasis. Cosmopolitan and communitarian positions are generally assumed to be irreconcilable, with no means available for reaching conclusions on ethical questions in world politics. This book pursues three lines of inquiry. First, it aims to examine the nature and the extent of the impasse within this debate. Second, it re-evaluates whether the cosmopolitan/communitarian dichotomy offers a complete picture of the most pressing issues at stake within normative international relations theory. The book suggests that a more refined focus on epistemology and questions of foundationalism and antifoundationalism is necessary. Third, it constructs an argument for a normative approach to international ethics which draws from the tradition of American pragmatism and is sensitive to the wider picture of concerns raised in the course of the book
Although John Dewey is celebrated for his work in the philosophy of education and acknowledged as a leading proponent of American pragmatism, he might also have enjoyed more of a reputation for his ph
In this highly original book, Victor Kestenbaum calls into question the oft-repeated assumption that John Dewey's pragmatism has no place for the transcendent. Kestenbaum demonstrates that, far from i
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) is generally considered the most significant American philosopher. He was the founder of pragmatism, the view popularized by William James and John Dewey, that our philosophical theories must be linked to experience and practice. The essays in this volume reveal how Peirce worked through this idea to make important contributions to most branches of philosophy. The topics covered include Peirce's influence; the famous pragmatic maxim and the view of truth and reality arising from it; the question as to whether mathematical, moral and religious hypotheses might aspire to truth; his theories of inquiry and perception; and his contribution to semiotics, statistical inference and deductive logic. New readers will find this the most convenient and accessible guide to Peirce currently available. Advanced students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Peirce.
The Middle East has changed clearly, substantially, and dramatically during the last decade. Yet scholarly and public understanding lags far behind these events. This book explains why the previous era came to end, giving an historical and political summation of the region. Three interlinked themes are crucial to the book. First, a reinterpretation of the era of upheaval the Middle East has just passed through. During that period, many Arabs believed that some leader, country, or radical movement would unite the region, solving all its problems. Second, an evaluation of how the historical experience of the period between the 1940s and the 1990s undermined the old system, making change necessary. Third, an analysis of the region today that helps explain future developments, in what the author terms the Era of Reluctant Pragmatism, as the Middle Eastern societies decide their relationships to the West.
Drawing on Cornel West's prophetic revision of American pragmatism and fictional cases of teaching from Toni Morrison'sBeloved, Teaching at the Crossroads of Faith and School develops an alternative c
In this book, T. L. Short corrects widespread misconceptions of Peirce's theory of signs and demonstrates its relevance to contemporary analytic philosophy of language, mind and science. Peirce's theory of mind, naturalistic but nonreductive, bears on debates of Fodor and Millikan, among others. His theory of inquiry avoids foundationalism and subjectivism, while his account of reference anticipated views of Kripke and Putnam. Peirce's realism falls between 'internal' and 'metaphysical' realism and is more satisfactory than either. His pragmatism is not verificationism; rather, it identifies meaning with potential growth of knowledge. Short distinguishes Peirce's mature theory of signs from his better-known but paradoxical early theory. He develops the mature theory systematically on the basis of Peirce's phenomenological categories and concept of final causation. The latter is distinguished from recent and similar views, such as Brandon's, and is shown to be grounded in forms of expla
The Marquis de Condorcet was one of the few Enlightenment ideologists to witness the French Revolution and participate as an elected politician at the centre of events during France's transition from monarchy to republic. Condorcet and Modernity explores the interaction between Condorcet's political theory, legislative pragmatism, public policy proposals and the management of change. David Williams examines key topics including rights, the civil order, the Church, the slave trade, women's civil rights, judicial reform, voting and representation, economics, monarchy, power and revolution. He explores the complex links between Condorcet as the visionary ideologist and Condorcet as the pragmatic legislator, and between Condorcet's concept of modernity - the application of 'social arithmetic' to government policies. Based on an extensive array of both printed and manuscript sources, this major contribution to enlightenment studies is a full treatment of Condorcet's politics.
Edith Wharton feared that the 'ill-bred', foreign and poor would overwhelm what was known as the American native elite. Drawing on a range of turn-of-the-century social documents, unpublished archival material and Wharton's major novels, Jennie Kassanoff argues that a fuller appreciation of American culture and democracy becomes available through a sustained engagement with these controversial views. She pursues her theme through Wharton's spirited participation in a variety of turn-of-the-century discourses - from euthanasia and tourism to pragmatism and Native Americans - to produce a truly interdisciplinary study of this major American writer. Kassanoff locates Wharton squarely in the middle of the debates on race, class and democratic pluralism at the turn of the twentieth century. Drawing on diverse cultural materials, she offers close interdisciplinary readings that will be of interest to scholars of American literature and culture.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr, is considered by many to be the most influential American jurist. The voluminous literature devoted to his writings and legal thought, however, is diverse and inconsistent. In this study, Frederic R. Kellogg follows Holmes's intellectual path from his early writings through his judicial career. He offers a fresh perspective that addresses the views of Holmes's leading critics and explains his relevance to the controversy over judicial activism and restraint. Holmes is shown to be an original legal theorist who reconceived common law as a theory of social inquiry and who applied his insights to constitutional law. From his empirical and naturalist perspective on law, with its roots in American pragmatism, emerged Holmes's distinctive judicial and constitutional restraint. Kellogg distinguishes Holmes from analytical legal positivism and contrasts him with a range of thinkers.
First published in 1978, this volume is addressed to the crisis prevailing in the social and cultural sciences. The authors explore the conflict between positivism and romanticism, between hard and soft sociological research methods, and between objectivity and subjectivity - conflicts that were particularly acute in sociology at the time of publication. All of the essays adopt the approach of 'symbolic realism' or 'cognitive aesthetics' to overcome the dualism in conventional sociological theory. This strategy of symbolic realism is a philosophical amalgam forged from findings in existential phenomenology, ordinary language philosophy and pragmatism. It establishes a legitimate basis for the application of aesthetic criteria to truth-seeking in the social sciences. The synthesis emergent from these essays suggests a paradigm with broad implications for all the human studies. Students of culture will find this volume a provocative point of departure for their own investigations.
Since Plato most philosophy has aimed at true knowledge, penetrating beneath appearances to an underlying reality. Against this tradition, Richard Rorty convincingly argues, pragmatism offers a new ph
