The Revival of Pragmatism: New Essays on Social Thought, Law, and Culture (Post-Contemporary Interventions)
The Revival of Pragmatism: New Essays on Social Thought, Law, and Culture (Post-Contemporary Interventions)
Although long considered the most distinctive American contribution to philosophy, pragmatismâ€"with its problem-solving emphasis and its contingent view of truthâ€"lost popularity in mid-century after the advent of World War II, the horror of the Holocaust, and the dawning of the Cold War. Since the 1960s, however, pragmatism in many guises has again gained prominence, finding congenial places to flourish within growing intellectual movements. This volume of new essays brings together leading philosophers, historians, legal scholars, social thinkers, and literary critics to examine the far-reaching effects of this revival.
As the twenty-five intellectuals who take part in this discussion show, pragmatism has become a complex terrain on which a rich variety of contemporary debates have been played out. Contributors such as Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, Nancy Fraser, Robert Westbrook, Hilary Putnam, and Morris Dickstein trace pragmatism’s cultural and intellectual evolution, consider its connection to democracy, and discuss its complex relationship to the work of Emerson, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein. They show the influence of pragmatism on black intellectuals such as W. E. B. Du Bois, explore its view of poetic language, and debate its effects on social science, history, and jurisprudence. Also including essays by critics of the revival such as Alan Wolfe and John Patrick Diggins, the volume concludes with a response to the whole collection from Stanley Fish.
Including an extensive bibliography, this interdisciplinary work provides an in-depth and broadly gauged introduction to pragmatism, one that will be crucial for understanding the shape of the transformations taking place in the American social and philosophical scene at the end of the twentieth century.
Beginning with a historical survey by editor Morris Dickstein of the 20th-century revival of pragmatism in American philosophical circles, this collection of academic essays continues with a typically bold assertion from pragmatism's most prominent modern advocate, Richard Rorty. "Mill's On Liberty provides all the ethical instruction you need," he writes, "all the philosophical advice you are ever going to get about your responsibilities to other human beings." Other contributors consider the influence of pragmatism on social thought, law, and culture. While most of the writers share to some degree the enthusiasm with which federal judge Richard A. Posner elaborates upon the notion of "pragmatic adjudication," there are some naysayers. Richard Weisberg, for example, in his proposal for a countertradition of "codifiers," suggests, "The challenge for us is to develop and perfect our own private beliefs and, if they are good enough, to make them public." And, in his concluding remarks, literary critic Stanley Fish throws some cold water on the fire: As the twenty-five intellectuals who take part in this discussion show, pragmatism has become a complex terrain on which a rich variety of contemporary debates have been played out. Contributors such as Richard Rorty, Stanley Cavell, Nancy Fraser, Robert Westbrook, Hilary Putnam, and Morris Dickstein trace pragmatism’s cultural and intellectual evolution, consider its connection to democracy, and discuss its complex relationship to the work of Emerson, Nietzsche, and Wittgenstein. They show the influence of pragmatism on black intellectuals such as W. E. B. Du Bois, explore its view of poetic language, and debate its effects on social science, history, and jurisprudence. Also including essays by critics of the revival such as Alan Wolfe and John Patrick Diggins, the volume concludes with a response to the whole collection from Stanley Fish.
Including an extensive bibliography, this interdisciplinary work provides an in-depth and broadly gauged introduction to pragmatism, one that will be crucial for understanding the shape of the transformations taking place in the American social and philosophical scene at the end of the twentieth century.
Contributors. Richard Bernstein, David Bromwich, Ray Carney, Stanley Cavell, Morris Dickstein, John Patrick Diggins, Stanley Fish, Nancy Fraser, Thomas C. Grey, Giles Gunn, Hans Joas, James T. Kloppenberg, David Luban, Louis Menand, Sidney Morgenbesser, Richard Poirier, Richard A. Posner, Ross Posnock, Hilary Putnam, Ruth Anna Putnam, Richard Rorty, Michel Rosenfeld, Richard H. Weisberg, Robert B. Westbrook, Alan Wolfe
Some people do philosophy, some people (lots more) don't and those who do have not ascended to some rarefied realm of reflection or critical self-consciousness from which they bring back the news to their less enlightened brethren; they merely have the knack of doing a trick some others can't do and the competence they have acquired travels no further than the very small arenas in which that trick is typically performed and rewarded.The Revival of Pragmatism is an intriguing collection of essays that manages for the most part to achieve clarity of prose equal to its rigor of intellect. --Ron Hogan
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