100 Years of Pragmatism: William James's Revolutionary Philosophy

Front Cover
John J. Stuhr
Indiana University Press, Dec 30, 2009 - Philosophy - 228 pages

William James claimed that his Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking would prove triumphant and epoch-making. Today, after more than 100 years, how is pragmatism to be understood? What has been its cultural and philosophical impact? Is it a crucial resource for current problems and for life and thought in the future? John J. Stuhr and the distinguished contributors to this multidisciplinary volume address these questions, situating them in personal, philosophical, political, American, and global contexts. Engaging James in original ways, these 11 essays probe and extend the significance of pragmatism as they focus on four major, overlapping themes: pragmatism and American culture; pragmatism as a method of thinking and settling disagreements; pragmatism as theory of truth; and pragmatism as a mood, attitude, or temperament.

 

Contents

100 Years of Pragmatism
1
1 Jamess Pragmatism and American Culture 19072007
7
2 The Enemies of Pragmatism
41
A Jamesian Genealogy of Immaturity
57
Method vs Metaphor Tragedy vsthe Will to Believe
81
A Distinctly Mixed Bag
96
6 The Deconstruction of Traditional Philosophy in William Jamess Pragmatism
108
The Epistemology of Diversity and the Politics of Specificity
124
What Is Called Thinking at the End of Modernity?
144
9 Active Tension
173
10 Reflections on the Future of Pragmatism
185
Jamess Pragmatism beyond Its First Century
194
List of Contributors
209
Index
213
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About the author (2009)

John J. Stuhr is Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and American Studies and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Emory University. He is author of John Dewey; Genealogical Pragmatism: Philosophy, Experience, and Community; and Pragmatism, Postmodernism, and the Future of Philosophy. He is co-editor of The Journal of Speculative Philosophy.

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