What Pragmatism Was

by F. Thomas Burke

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253009548
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	06/14/2013
Series:	American Philosophy
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

F. Thomas Burke is Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina. He is author of Dewey's New Logic: A Reply to Russell (1994) and co-editor of Dewey's Logical Theory: New Studies and Interpretations (2002) and George Herbert Mead in the Twenty-First Century (2013).

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Pragmatic Maxim
1. Peirce's Early Presentation of the Maxim
2. James's Presentation of the Maxim
3. Peirce's Later Versions of the Maxim
4. A Composite Sketch of the Maxim
5. Empiricism versus Pragmatism
6. Measurement and the Observer Effect
7. Perception and Action
8. Addams and the Settlement Movement
9. Truth, Justice, and the American Pragmatist Way
10. Twelve Misconceptions of Pragmatism
Conclusion: Belief and Meaning
Appendices
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis - Nathan Houser

Sorts out the rather muddled variety of ways the idea of pragmatism is used in academe and in public life and looks back at what pragmatism was to help establish some parameters for understanding what it has become and how it can be more effective.

Universityof Oregon - Scott Pratt

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.

Editorial Reviews

Highly recommended.

Choice

[This] is . . . a work from which all pragmatists can and, I would add most certainly should, learn.

Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society

"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

Scott Pratt

"Sorts out the rather muddled variety of ways the idea of pragmatism is used in academe and in public life and looks back at what pragmatism was to help establish some parameters for understanding what it has become and how it can be more effective." —Nathan Houser, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

Nathan Houser

"Sorts out the rather muddled variety of ways the idea of pragmatism is used in academe and in public life and looks back at what pragmatism was to help establish some parameters for understanding what it has become and how it can be more effective."—Nathan Houser, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis

"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

"What Pragmatism Was makes an important contribution to our understanding of pragmatism. Burke's prose is lucid and precise, and his scholarship is first rate. His book is to be strongly recommended to those interested in pragmatism and its history. It would also be useful as secondary reading for undergraduate and graduate classes in Pragmatism."—Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"Highly recommended."—Choice

"[This] is . . . a work from which all pragmatists can and, I would add most certainly should, learn."—Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society

From the Publisher

What Pragmatism Was makes an important contribution to our understanding of pragmatism. Burke's prose is lucid and precise, and his scholarship is first rate. His book is to be strongly recommended to those interested in pragmatism and its history. It would also be useful as secondary reading for undergraduate and graduate classes in Pragmatism.

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews