Pragmatism: From Progressivism to Post-Modernism

American pragmatism can be best understood against the background of 20th-century American culture and politics. The essays in this volume, by philosophers, cultural critics, and historians, explore the development of pragmatism in this context. The emphasis in this volume is on the interrelations between the philosophical or foundational issues raised by pragmatism as a philosophical movement, and the cultural, political, and educational programs that have been associated with pragmatism from James, Dewey, and Mead to Rorty and Cornel West. The book is divided into three parts, reflecting the periods of Progressivism, Positivism, and Postmodernism. The contributors explore the ways in which pragmatist writings have been appropriated or misappropriated in the literature and practice of Progressive reformers, positivist academics, end-of-ideology liberals, and postmodernists.

Table of Contents:
General Introduction Pragmatists and Progressives Introduction by David Depew and Robert Hollinger The Problem of Pragmatism in American History: A Look Back, and a Look Ahead by David A. Hollinger William James and Richard Rorty: Context and Conversation by George Cotkin Community Without Fusion: Dewey, Mead, Tufts by James Campbell Pragmatism, Technology, and Scientism: Are the Methods of the Scientific-Technical Disciplines Relevant to Social Problems by Larry Hickman The Perils of Personality: Lewis Mumford and Politics After Liberalism by Casey Nelson Blake Pragmatism and Positivism Introduction by David Depew Fertile Ground: Pragmatism, Science, and Logical Positivism by Daniel J. Wilson American Philosophy and Its Lost Public by Bruce Kuklick James, Quine, and Analytic Pragmatism by Isaac Nevo Vanishing Frontiers in American Philosophy: Two Dogmas of Idealism by Ralph W. Sleeper The Decline of Evolutionary Naturalism in Later Pragmatism by Randall Auxier Rorty's Pragmatism and the Linguistic Turn by Rickard Donovan Pragmatism and the Postmodern Condition Introduction by David Depew and Robert Hollinger merican Pragmatism and the Humanist Traditions by Konstantine Kolenda Postmodern Pragmatism: Nietzsche, Heidegger, Derrida, and Rorty by Bernd Magnus Richard Rorty's Romantic Pragmatism by Isaac Nevo Pragmatism, Democracy, and the Imagination: Rethinking the Deweyan Legacy by Giles Gunn Theory, Pragmatisms, and Politics by Cornel West Selected Bibliography

About the Author :
ROBERT HOLLINGER is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Iowa State University. He is the author of The Dark Side of Liberalism: Elitism vs. Democracy, and Postmodernism in the Social Sciences (both forthcoming), editor of Hermeneutics and Praxis (1985), and co-editor of Philosophy: The Basic Issues, 4th ed. (1993) and Introductory Readings in the Philosophy of Science 2d ed. (1988). DAVID DEPEW is Professor of Philosophy, California State University at Fullerton. He is the author of the article Philosophy in America in the Twentieth Century, in Encyclopedia of United States History in the 20th Century (forthcoming) -author (with Bruce Weber) of Darwinism Evolving: Systems Dynamics and the Genealogy of Natural Selection (1993) -editor (with Bruce Weber) of Entropy, Information, and Evolution: New Perspectives on Physical and Biological Evolution (1988), and Evolution at a Crossroads: The New Biology and the New Philosophy of Science (1985) and editor of The Greeks and the Good Life (1981).

Review :
?This valuable collection of 16 essays by historians, philosophers, and literary scholars greatly benefits from careful arrangement under three general topics (the Progressive Era; positivism and the linguistic turn; the post-modern condition) and strong introductory essays by the editors.?-Choice "This valuable collection of 16 essays by historians, philosophers, and literary scholars greatly benefits from careful arrangement under three general topics (the Progressive Era; positivism and the linguistic turn; the post-modern condition) and strong introductory essays by the editors."-Choice