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The Varieties of Transcendence

Hermann Deuser, Hans Joas, Matthias Jung, and Magnus Schlette (eds)

This book traces American pragmatist thought on religion and its relevance for theorizing religion today. The volume establishes pragmatist concepts of religious individualization as powerful ... More

This book traces American pragmatist thought on religion and its relevance for theorizing religion today. The volume establishes pragmatist concepts of religious individualization as powerful alternatives to the more common secularization discourse. In stressing the importance of Josiah Royce's work, it emphasizes religious individualism's compatibility with community. At the same time, by covering all of the major classical pragmatist theories of religion, it shows their kinship and common focus on the interrelation between the challenges of contingency and the semiotic significance of transcendence.Less

Pragmatism with Purpose: Selected Writings

Peter Hare

Joseph Palencik, Douglas Anderson, and Steven A. Miller (eds)

This book is a collection of selected writings by the late Peter Hare, a leading proponent of the American philosophical tradition. The volume includes chapters on “holistic pragmatism” that the ... More

This book is a collection of selected writings by the late Peter Hare, a leading proponent of the American philosophical tradition. The volume includes chapters on “holistic pragmatism” that the author developed in conversation with Morton White, as well as historical articles on William James and Charles Sanders Peirce and commentaries on the profession.Less

The Problem of the Color Line at the Turn of the Twentieth Century: The Essential Early Essays

W.E.B. Du Bois

Nahum Dimitri Chandler (ed.)

This volume assembles essential essays by W. E. B. Du Bois from 1894 to early 1906. These show the first formulations of some of his most famous ideas, namely, “the veil,” “double-consciousness,” and ... More

This volume assembles essential essays by W. E. B. Du Bois from 1894 to early 1906. These show the first formulations of some of his most famous ideas, namely, “the veil,” “double-consciousness,” and the “problem of the color line.” The deep historical sense of the formation of the modern world that informed Du Bois's thought and gave rise to his understanding of “the problem of the color line” is displayed. Some of the essays were published posthumously, others are obscure, and one has only recently been translated. The essays constitute an essential companion to Du Bois's 1903 masterpiece The Souls of Black Folk. The collection presents the essays in their entirety and in strict chronological order, starting at the moment of Du Bois's return to the United States. Copious annotations are provided to enhance the reader's understanding.Less

Freedom and Limits

John Lachs

Patrick Shade (ed.)

This collection of articles by American philosopher, John Lachs, includes Lachs's discussions of philosophy of mind, medical ethics, his theories of mediation and choice-inclusive facts, and his ... More

This collection of articles by American philosopher, John Lachs, includes Lachs's discussions of philosophy of mind, medical ethics, his theories of mediation and choice-inclusive facts, and his recent espousal of anti-perfectionism and stoic pragmatism. Lachs acknowledges the complex tension that arises in celebrating human individuality, intelligence, and creativity while being mindful of the real conditions that curb our endeavors. Meaningful and enriching living are not thereby sacrificed but rather contextualized. As a result, Lachs celebrates moments of immediacy even as he recognizes the comforts and costs associated with material and moral advance. Each of the five parts of the volume highlights a dominant theme in Lachs's philosophy, and each is organized chronologically to map the development of specific arguments and ideas across the years.Less

The Relevance of Royce

Kelly A. Parker and Jason Bell (eds)

The Relevance of Royce is a collection of essays from contemporary philosophers engaged in exploring Josiah Royce's work with in light of contemporary philosophical concerns. The collection explores ... More

The Relevance of Royce is a collection of essays from contemporary philosophers engaged in exploring Josiah Royce's work with in light of contemporary philosophical concerns. The collection explores the wide range of Royce studies, treating such familiar themes as the conception of the individual and the community, the nature of religious faith, and his conception of loyalty. Several contributors focus on Royce's ethics as his chief contribution to philosophy. One addresses his importance for race theory, highlighting the confiict that has arisen in interpreting the significance of his various writings and utterances regarding race. Another considers how his theory of knowledge aligns with contemporary feminist epistemology. Some point to Royce's overcoming of Absolute Idealism as his most important achievement, whereas others say the Absolute is the key to understanding Royce's pragmatic metaphysics and ethics. One identifies his previously unrecognized importance as an earlier practitioner and infiuential figure for phenomenology. Two authors point to Royce's logical innovations as the reason for his relevance. The volume also includes John J. McDermott's Presidential Address from the first international Royce conference and a report on the intensive project to index the Royce papers housed at the Harvard University Archive. Contributors to this volume are: Kelly A. Parker, Jason Bell, John J. McDermott, Frank M. Oppenheim, Dawn Aberg, John Kaag, Dwayne Tunstall, Mathew A. Foust, Melissa Shew, Randall E. Auxier, Scott L. Pratt, Douglas R. Anderson, Jacquelyn Ann K. Kegley, Judith M. Green, Richard P. Mullin, Kara Barnette, and Mary B. Mahowald.Less

X-The Problem of the Negro as a Problem for Thought

Nahum Dimitri Chandler

This book offers an original account of matters African American within the context of modernity understood as an epistemic horizon. With special reference to the work of W. E. B. Du Bois, X shows ... More

This book offers an original account of matters African American within the context of modernity understood as an epistemic horizon. With special reference to the work of W. E. B. Du Bois, X shows how a concern with the Negro is central to the historical problematization that underwrote 20th century explorations of what it means to exist as an historical entity. If for Du Bois, “the problem of the color line” coincides with the modern horizon, the idea of the human and its avatars - the idea of race and the idea of culture - emerged together with the violent, hierarchal inscription of the so-called African or Negro into a horizon of commonness beyond all natal premises. On such horizon, the world, if there is such, from the inception of something like the Negro as a problem for thought has never been and could never be only one, or pure. It is always at least and never only double. The problem of the Negro in America is thus an exemplary instance of modern historicity in its most fundamental sense. This conception offers an original perspective within African American and African Diaspora studies, but also challenges analogous objects of study across the dominant ethnological disciplines (e.g. anthropology, history, and sociology) and various forms of cultural, ethnic, and postcolonial studies, and takes critical reference to key contemporary figures such as Cecil Taylor, Hortense Spillers, Ranajit Guha, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Michel Foucault, and Jacques Derrida.Less

The Human Eros: Eco-ontology and the Aesthetics of Existence

Thomas Alexander

This book explores themes in classical American philosophy, primarily the thought of John Dewey, but also that of Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Santayana, and Native American traditions. It argues that ... More

This book explores themes in classical American philosophy, primarily the thought of John Dewey, but also that of Ralph Waldo Emerson, George Santayana, and Native American traditions. It argues that human beings have an inherent need to experience meaning and value, a “Human Eros.” Our various cultures are symbolic environments or “spiritual ecologies” within which the Human Eros seeks to thrive. This is how we inhabit the earth. Encircling and sustaining our cultural existence is nature, yet Western philosophy has not provided adequate conceptual models for thinking ecologically. The book introduces the idea of “eco-ontology” to explore ways in which this might be done, beginning with the primacy of Nature over Being but also including the recognition of possibility and potentiality as inherent aspects of existence. It argues for the centrality of Dewey’s thought to an effective ecological philosophy. Both “pragmatism” and “naturalism,” it shows, need to be contextualized within an emergentist, relational, nonreductive view of nature and an aesthetic, imaginative, nonreductive view of intelligence.Less

Pragmatic Pluralism and the Problem of God

Sami Pihlstrom

This book responds to the currently unclear situation in the philosophy of religion by developing a version of pragmatic pluralism. This position is developed through a critical articulation and ... More

This book responds to the currently unclear situation in the philosophy of religion by developing a version of pragmatic pluralism. This position is developed through a critical articulation and defense of pragmatist philosophy of religion, largely based on William James’s and John Dewey’s ideas. The historical background of pragmatism in Kantian transcendental philosophy as well as more recent neopragmatist developments in the philosophy of religion (e.g., Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam) are also taken into account. The book thus seeks to move beyond the mainstream debates on theism and its standard alternatives by understanding religion as, primarily, a set of human practices with their distinctive goals and interests different from those operative in other practices. In addition to thus critically transforming the available accounts of religious belief and religious language, special problems in contemporary philosophy of religion, such as the problem of evil, are also discussed from a pragmatist and pluralist perspective. In particular, it is argued that pragmatism should avoid any attempts to justify, or explain away, evil in terms of a “theodicy”. More generally, it is suggested that an adequate pragmatist philosophy of religion must remain antireductionistic – seeking to incorporate a plurality of perspectives on religion – and ought to view the ethical and metaphysical dimensions of the philosophy of religion as inextricably entangled.Less

Doing Philosophy Personally: Thinking about Metaphysics, Theism, and Antiblack Racism

Dwayne A. Tunstall

This book contends that Gabriel Marcel’s reflective method is animated by two extraphilosophical commitments. Marcel’s first extraphilosophical commitment is to an ethico-religious insight where the ... More

This book contends that Gabriel Marcel’s reflective method is animated by two extraphilosophical commitments. Marcel’s first extraphilosophical commitment is to an ethico-religious insight where the highest ontological exigency for human persons is to participate in being. Marcel’s second extraphilosophical commitment is to battle the ever-present threat of dehumanization in late Western modernity. The importance of these two commitments to Marcel’s reflective method can be appreciated better if one views it as a teleological suspension of philosophy. Unfortunately, Marcel undermines his second extraphilosophical commitment by neglecting to examine what is perhaps the most prevalent threat of depersonalization in Western modernity, antiblack racism. Given Marcel’s professed commitment to battle against the forces of dehumanization in late Western modernity, any Marcellian reflective method that is faithful to Marcel’s commitment to combat dehumanization should account for how antiblack racism has affected modern human persons, especially Africana persons. Tunstall thinks Gordon’s existential phenomenology is a promising candidate for providing this sort of account.Less

Pets, People, and Pragmatism

Erin McKenna

Pragmatism is used to explore human beings relationships with horses, dogs, and cats. This results in some surprising conclusions such as respectful relations may require humans to continue in some ... More

Pragmatism is used to explore human beings relationships with horses, dogs, and cats. This results in some surprising conclusions such as respectful relations may require humans to continue in some interactions that include training and work. While most animal rights advocates call for the abolition of all such use, a pragmatist needs to respect the history of these beings and find ways for them to express themselves. The biomedical context presents some interesting challenges. Most animal welfare and animal rights advocates say they want to end all use of animals in research, but few really want the end of all research. With some exceptions, most animal advocates are also people who live with petswho want the best care available for them. Caring for horses, dogs, and cats does not necessarily entail ending all research, but it does require us to look carefully at the kinds of use and the care they receive. We need to examine the relationships between humans and horse, dog, and cat beings.Less