Customer Reviews

Beyond Realism and Antirealism: John Dewey and the Neopragmatists (Vanderbilt Library of American Philosophy)

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This is the best book I have read about Pragmatism in a long time. Hildebrand confronts the differences between Neo-Pragmatism and the classical figures (especially Dewey). He argues that
although Putnam and Rorty consider themselves pragmatists they have failed to understand the more radical and significant insights of Dewey's philosophy. His criticism is not superficial. He
makes an effort to understand even the particular differences between Putnam and Rorty. Bravo!!!!!!!!!!

Although many essays (and anthologies of essays) have appeared on the topic of classical pragmatism versus neopragmatism, this is the first book-length project I know of to tackle the controversy from a viewpoint fully conversant with and sympathetic to Dewey's signal contribution. It is quite refreshing to discover a scholar who not is not only aware of, but champions, the vital Deweyan conceptions of having versus knowing, primary experience, and the centrality of inquiry. Hildebrand's grasp of Dewey's engagement with direct and critical realism is exemplary, and his "deconstruction" of Rorty's antirealism is nothing short of amazing-"wicked" comes to mind! Although Hildebrand's alternative "practical standpoint" falls short, in my view, of Dewey's full transactional integration of experience and nature, this book opens up an area of research of vital importance. It is well written, informed, and cogent.

Hildebrand's book sets the record straight regarding Rorty and Putnam's failure to properly understand Dewey's metaphysics and epistemology--a failure that results in their unwitting support for the very philosophical positions that Dewey had explicitly rejected. But the reader is in for much more than an informed correction of two prominent neo-pragmatist philosophers. This book offers a compelling interpretation of Dewey's metaphysics and epistemology, the key to which, Hildebrand argues is Dewey's practical starting point. This thesis is well researched, clearly presented, and rigorously argued. Finally, Hildebrand concisely presents some of the key debates between Dewey and his realist and idealist critics. The reader gains much from this book: a thorough account of contemporary debates in neo-pragmatism, a compelling interpretation of Dewey, and a concise overview of some of the most important philosophical debates in early twentieth century American philosophy. And all of this is presented in clearly written prose. Additionally, the book has many helpful diagrams of key philosophical concepts. This is the sort of book that will benefit analytic philosophers and those interested in American pragmatism. I highly recommend it!

Hildebrand is quite fair in rectifying the philosophically muddled caricatures of Dewey and the classical pragmatists that have been popularized by neopragmatism. This is a must-read for anyone who has been introduced to Dewey via Rorty or Putnam. Not only does it provide brilliant scholarship in sorting out the misinterpretations made by neopragmatists, it offers a thoroughly comprehensive articulation of Dewey's actual philosophy as well as the sorts of debates that framed much of Dewey's writing.

The greatest strength of Hildebrand's argument is found in his technique of casting neopragmatism's preoccupation with much of the philosophical conversation surrounding realism vs. anti-realism in the context of these early idealism vs. realism debates that Dewey effectively overcame. The moral to take away from this story is that it is often all too easy, despite these contemporary attempts to recapture the spirit of Dewey, to become caught up in the underbrush of one's own theoretical discourse. Hildebrand makes a convincing argument that by rejecting Dewey's metaphysics and method of inquiry (as Rorty does), pragmatism becomes anemic--unable to fall back upon the "practical-starting point" that enabled Dewey to so elegantly diffuse criticisms from both idealist and realist camps. While the work of Rorty and Putnam may face similar challenges today, it seems that without the insight that Hildebrand explicates in Dewey's view, neopragmatism is unable to deflect many of its major criticisms.

The scanned copy of this book does not have the back cover blurbs, which I think are worth reading:

David Hildebrand's attempt to restate Dewey's central message is intelligent, well-informed and well-argued, as are his polemics against what he takes to be Putnam's and my own misunderstandings of Dewey.
--Richard Rorty, Stanford University

Pragmatism was revived, in the 1970s and 1980s and was led at once into philosophical dead ends that John Dewey had already skillfully dismantled. Now, David Hildebrand corrects the record; provides an informed, splendidly argued, indispensable part of the recovery of Dewey's analysis of realism still hardly bettered by anyone today.
-- Joseph Margolis, Temple University

Beyond Realism and Antirealism packs a double punch. Mobilizing a meticulous study of early twentieth-century classical pragmatism, Hildebrand engages the key neopragmatic positions of Richard Rorty and Hilary Putnam. Then, driving his own thesis home, he offers what he terms Dewey's "practical stance" as a corrective to the limitations of the linguistic turn.
--Larry Hickman, Director, The Center for Dewey Studies, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale