A Natural History of Pragmatism: The Fact of Feeling from Jonathan Edwards to Gertrude Stein (Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture) [Hardcover]

Joan Richardson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0521837480 | ISBN-13: 978-0521837484

Joan Richardson provides a fascinating and compelling account of the emergence of the quintessential American philosophy: pragmatism. She demonstrates pragmatism's engagement with various branches of the natural sciences and traces the development of Jamesian pragmatism from the late nineteenth century through modernism, following its pointings into the present. Richardson combines strands from America's religious experience with scientific information to offer interpretations that break new ground in literary and cultural history. This book exemplifies the value of interdisciplinary approaches to producing literary criticism. In a series of highly original readings of Edwards, Emerson, William and Henry James, Stevens, and Stein, A Natural History of Pragmatism tracks the interplay of religious motive, scientific speculation, and literature in shaping an American aesthetic. Wide-ranging and bold, this groundbreaking book will be essential reading for all students and scholars of American literature.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Richardson reads the subjects of her history well, and this work is amarvelous introduction to Jonathan Edwards, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, Henry James, Wallace Stevens, and Gertrude Stein." - Steven Schroeder, Chicago, Illinois Journal of the American Studies Association of Texas

Book Description

Joan Richardson provides a compelling account of the emergence of the quintessential American philosophy: pragmatism, in a series of highly original readings of Edwards, Emerson, William and Henry James, Stevens, and Stein. This groundbreaking book is essential reading for all students and scholars of American literature.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 346 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (January 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521837480
• ISBN-13: 978-0521837484
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,238,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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