Friday, May 31, 2013

New Book: What Pragmatism Was

Now available from Indiana University Press:

What Pragmatism Was
F. Thomas Burke

"An insightful reading of the similarities and differences between pragmatism as it was developed by William James and pragmatism as C. S. Peirce developed it. Identifying these two strands of pragmatism provides Burke with an analytical tool for placing pragmatism in relation to the work of Carnap, Quine, and more recent neo-pragmatists and for offering a clarification of what it means to be a pragmatist in the present world." —Scott Pratt, University of Oregon

F. Thomas Burke believes that pragmatism, especially as it has been employed in politics and social action, needs a reassessment. He examines the philosophies of William James and Charles S. Peirce to determine how certain maxims of pragmatism originated. Burke contrasts pragmatism as a certain set of beliefs or actions with pragmatism as simply a methodology. He unravels the complex history of this philosophical tradition and discusses contemporary conceptions of pragmatism found in current US political discourse and explains what this quintessentially American philosophy means today.

American Philosophy
256 pp., 7 figures
cloth 978-0-253-00954-8 $75.00
paper 978-0-253-00958-6 $25.00
ebook 978-0-253-00962-3 $20.99

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