- In
- this
- major
- new
- work,
- Richard
- J.
- Bernstein
- argues
- that
- many
- of
- the
- most
- important
- themes
- in
- philosophy
- during
- the
- past
- one
- hundred
- and
- fifty
- years
- are
- variations
- and
- developments
- of
- ideas
- that
- were
- prominent
- in
- the
- classical
- American
- pragmatists:
- Charles
- S.
- Peirce,
- William
- James,
- John
- Dewey
- and
- George
- H
- Mead.
- Pragmatism
- begins
- with
- a
- thoroughgoing
- critique
- of
- the
- Cartesianism
- that
- dominated
- so
- much
- of
- modern
- philosophy.
- The
- pragmatic
- thinkers
- reject
- a
- sharp
- dichotomy
- between
- subject
- and
- object,
- mind-body
- dualism,
- the
- quest
- for
- certainty
- and
- the
- spectator
- theory
- of
- knowledge.
- They
- seek
- to
- bring
- about
- a
- sea
- change
- in
- philosophy
- that
- highlights
- the
- social
- character
- of
- human
- experience
- and
- normative
- social
- practices,
- the
- self-correcting
- nature
- of
- all
- inquiry,
- and
- the
- continuity
- of
- theory
- and
- practice.
- And
- they-especially
- James,
- Dewey,
- and
- Mead-emphasize
- the
- democratic
- ethical-political
- consequences
- of
- a
- pragmatic
- orientation.Many
- of
- the
- themes
- developed
- by
- the
- pragmatic
- thinkers
- were
- also
- central
- to
- the
- work
- of
- major
- twentieth
- century
- philosophers
- like
- Wittgenstein
- and
- Heidegger,
- but
- the
- so-called
- analytic-continental
- split
- obscures
- this
- underlying
- continuity.
- Bernstein
- develops
- an
- alternative
- reading
- of
- contemporary
- philosophy
- that
- brings
- out
- the
- persistence
- and
- continuity
- of
- pragmatic
- themes.
- He
- critically
- examines
- the
- work
- of
- leading
- contemporary
- philosophers
- who
- have
- been
- deeply
- influenced
- by
- pragmatism,
- including
- Hilary
- Putnam,
- Jürgen
- Habermas,
- Richard
- Rorty,
- and
- Robert
- Brandom,
- and
- he
- explains
- why
- the
- discussion
- of
- pragmatism
- is
- so
- alive,
- varied
- and
- widespread.
- This
- lucid,
- wide-ranging
- book
- by
- one
- of
- America's
- leading
- philosophers
- will
- be
- compulsory
- reading
- for
- anyone
- who
- wants
- to
- understand
- the
- state
- of
- philosophy today.
pro-mbooks3 : libris
