Philosophy Americana: Making Philosophy at Home in American Culture
Fordham University Press (2006)
| Abstract | In this engaging book, Douglas Anderson begins with the assumption that philosophy—the Greek love of wisdom—is alive and well in American culture. At the same time, professional philosophy remains relatively invisible. Anderson traverses American life to find places in the wider culture where professional philosophy in the distinctively American tradition can strike up a conversation. How might American philosophers talk to us about our religious experience, or political engagement, or literature—or even, popular music? Anderson’s second aim is to find places where philosophy happens in nonprofessional guises—cultural places such as country music, rock’n roll, and Beat literature. He not only enlarges the tradition of American philosophers such as John Dewey and William James by examining lesser-known figures such as Henry Bugbee and Thomas Davidson, but finds the theme and ideas of American philosophy in some unexpected places, such as the music of Hank Williams, Tammy Wynette, and Bruce Springsteen, and the writingsof Jack Kerouac.The idea of “philosophy Americana” trades on the emergent genre of “music Americana,” rooted in traditional themes and styles yet engaging our present experiences. The music is “popular” but not thoroughly driven by economic considerations, and Anderson seeks out an analogous role for philosophical practice, where philosophy and popular culture are co-adventurers in the life of ideas. Philosophy Americana takes seriously Emerson’s quest for the extraordinary in the ordinary and James’s belief that popular philosophy can still be philosophy. | |||||||||
| Keywords | American philosophy American culture | |||||||||
| Categories | No categories specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Buy the book | $60.33 used (20% off) $62.91 new (17% off) $67.00 direct from Amazon (11% off) Amazon page | |||||||||
| Call number | B936.A53 2006 | |||||||||
| ISBN(s) | 082322550X | |||||||||
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Similar books and articlesStow Persons (1968). Evolutionary Thought in America. [Hamden, Conn.]Archon Books.
Russell B. Goodman (1990). American Philosophy and the Romantic Tradition. Cambridge University Press.
John J. McDermott (1976). The Culture of Experience: Philosophical Essays in the American Grain. New York University Press.
Cliff DuRand (2006). Making the World Safe for US. Radical Philosophy Today 3:143-147.
John J. McDermott (2007). The Drama of Possibility: Experience as Philosophy of Culture. Fordham University Press.
Gail Kennedy (1950). Pragmatism and American Culture. Boston, Heath.
Richard E. Hart & Douglas R. Anderson (eds.) (1997). Philosophy in Experience: American Philosophy in Transition. Fordham University Press.
Crispin Sartwell (2009). Philosophy Americana: Making Philosophy at Home in American Culture (Review). Journal of Speculative Philosophy 23 (3):pp. 262-264.
John D. Gilroy (2007). Philosophy Americana: Making Philosophy at Home in American Culture—Douglas R. Anderson. International Philosophical Quarterly 47 (2):251-253.
Michael Magee (2007). Review: Philosophy Americana: Making Philosophy at Home in American Culture by Douglas R. Anderson. [REVIEW] Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 43 (2):411-417.
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