Table Of Content
AMERICAN
PHILOSOPHY
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AMERICAN
PHILOSOPHY
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editedby
CHERYL MISAK
1
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Preface
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‘American Philosophy’is of courserathera large topic.While Ihave tried to
have as much of it covered as is possible in a mere few hundred pages, there
arenodoubtmanyindividualphilosophersandtopicsthatdeservedmore(or
indeed some) attention. But perhaps the reader who is alert to the gaps will
reflectnotonlythatwastheaimheretocovertwocenturiesofphilosophical
thought, across domains of philosophy as diverse as logic and ethics, but
also that a set of challenges was faced due to the geographic nature of the
subjectmatter.WhatcountsasAmericanphilosophy?Andwhocountsasan
Americanphilosopher?
With respect to the first question, the whole of the Americas are not
covered—that would have resulted in a completely unwieldy project and
wouldhavedestroyedwhateverunitythereistobefoundinthesubjectmatter.
There is of course a home-grown philosophy in America—the pragmatism
that originated in the mid to late 1800s in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But it
wouldbesillytotakepragmatismtobedefinitiveofthespiritofthewholeof
American philosophy. So I have tried to strike a balance between getting the
fullflavor ofpragmatism, fromC.S. PeircetoRichardRorty,inthevolume,
and giving the impression that pragmatism somehow still lingers on every
Americanphilosopher’spalate.
With respect to the second question, philosophy is now a rather interna-
tionalenterprise,withscholarsmovingfromcountrytocountry.Iandmany
of the contributors had to make a set of decisions about who to count as
beingAmerican.Oneeasydecisionwastoincludethelogicalempiricists,that
impressivesetofGermansandAustrianswhoputwhatlookslikeanindelible
stamp on philosophy of science and epistemology once they hit the shores
of North America. But of course, not all the decisions were that clear-cut.
We tried to speak to those philosophers who spent a significant part of their
intellectuallifeintheUnitedStatesorhadanenormousinfluenceontheway
vi preface
philosophywaspracticedthere.Nodoubtthissetofdecisionswillnotplease
everyone.
I thank the contributors for the time and effort they put into their
chapters. Those who responded promptly to my initial request have been
exceedingly patient and need to be thanked for their good humor as well.
Peter Momtchiloff and Nadiah Al-Ammar at Oxford University Press were
most helpful, and Mikki Choman went well beyond the call of duty during
thefinalproductionstages.
CherylMisak
Contents
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ListofContributors x
1. JonathanEdwardsandEighteenth-CenturyReligious
Philosophy 1
RogerA.Ward
2. Emerson,Romanticism,andClassicalAmerican
Pragmatism 19
RussellB.Goodman
3. PeirceandPragmatism:AmericanConnections 38
DouglasAnderson
4. WilliamJames 60
HenryJackman
5. JohnDewey:Inquiry,Ethics,andDemocracy 87
MatthewFestenstein
6. JosiahRoyce:Idealism,Transcendentalism,Pragmatism 110
KellyA.Parker
7. GeorgeSantayana:OrdinaryReflectionSystematized 125
GlennTiller
8. APragmatistWorldView:GeorgeHerbertMead’s
PhilosophyoftheAct 144
CornelisdeWaal
9. W.E.B.DuBois:Double-Consciousness,Jamesian
Sympathy,andtheCriticalTurn 169
MitchellAboulafia
viii contents
10. ThePragmatistFamilyRomance 185
RobertWestbrook
11. TheReceptionofEarlyAmericanPragmatism 197
CherylMisak
12. Whitehead’sMetaphysicalSystem 224
JohnW.Lango
13. ThorsteinVeblenandAmericanSocialCriticism 235
JosephHeath
14. PragmatismandtheColdWar 254
RobertTalisse
15. PragmatismandtheGiven:C.I.Lewis,Quine,andPeirce 269
ChristopherHookway
16. W.V.Quine 290
ArifAhmed
17. PhilosophyofScienceinAmerica 339
AlanRichardson
18. TheInfluenceofWittgensteinonAmericanPhilosophy 375
Hans-JohannGlock
19. PlacinginaSpaceofNorms:Neo-SellarsianPhilosophy
intheTwenty-firstCentury 403
MarkLance
20. Rorty,Davidson,andtheFutureofMetaphysics
inAmerica 430
BjørnRamberg
21. AnalyticPhilosophyinAmerica 449
ScottSoames
22. LogicandtheFoundationsofMathematics 482
DanielleMacbeth
contents ix
23. LiberalEquality:What,Where,andWhy 515
Kok-ChorTan
24. LegalPhilosophyinAmerica 551
BrianH.Bix
25. AmericanMoralPhilosophy 578
BradHooker
26. Essences,Intersections,andAmericanFeminism 595
AnnGarry
NameIndex 627
SubjectIndex 639
