Pragmatism: A Reader [Paperback]

Louis Menand (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 1997

Pragmatism has been called America's only major contribution to philosophy. But since its birth was announced a century ago in 1898 by William James, pragmatism has played a vital role in almost every area of American intellectual and cultural life, inspiring judges, educators, politicians, poets, and social prophets.

Now the major texts of American pragmatism, from William James and John Dewey to Richard Rorty and Cornel West, have been brought together and reprinted unabridged. From the first generation of pragmatists, including the Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and the founder of semiotics, Charles Sanders Peirce, to the leading figures in the contemporary pragmatist revival, including the philosopher Hilary Putnam, the jurist Richard Posner, and the literary critic Richard Poirier, all the contributors to this volume are remarkable for the wit and vigor of their prose and the mind-clearing force of their ideas. Edited and with an Introduction by Louis Menand, Pragmatism: A Reader will provide both the general reader and the student of American culture with excitement and pleasure.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Pragmatism has been called America's only major contribution to philosophy. But since its birth was announced a century ago in 1898 by William James, pragmatism has played a vital role in almost every area of American intellectual and cultural life, inspiring judges, educators, politicians, poets, and social prophets.

Now the major texts of American pragmatism, from William James and John Dewey to Richard Rorty and Cornel West, have been brought together and reprinted unabridged. From the first generation of pragmatists, including the Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and the founder of semiotics, Charles Sanders Peirce, to the leading figures in the contemporary pragmatist revival, including the philosopher Hilary Putnam, the jurist Richard Posner, and the literary critic Richard Poirier, all the contributors to this volume are remarkable for the wit and vigor of their prose and the mind-clearing force of their ideas. Edited and with an Introduction by Louis Menand, Pragmatism: A Reader will provide both the general reader and the student of American culture with excitement and pleasure.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st edition (October 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679775447
• ISBN-13: 978-0679775447
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #186,035 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Louis Menand, professor of English at Harvard University, is the author of "The Metaphysical Club," which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in History. A longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, he lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eye-openingly Good!, February 10, 2001

By 

peculiar "andrew_eccentric" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pragmatism: A Reader (Paperback)

This book is astounding! It manages to accomplish in around 500 pages the twin tasks of giving a functional outline of the rise and rise of pragmatic thought and also to give examples, old and new, of that same pragmatic thought. The three more well-known "founders" (popularisers) of this philosophical method slash attitude are here in C.S. Peirce, William James and John Dewey along with an interesting selection of more modern pragmatists, such as Richard Rorty (of course!), Cornel West and Hilary Putnam. One name that is missing from the contemporary selection is Stanley Fish, but since he seems to aim his sights indiscriminately he may be thought to be rather roguish for this sane and coherent selection of writings that the editor, Louis Menand, has pulled together.

In his introductory piece Menand charts Pragmatism's birth in the universities of north eastern America in the second half of the nineteenth century and points up some of its distinctives (of which there are very few and deliberately so). This piece is worth the price of the book itself for its clarity, insight and authority. The choices Menand makes in presenting the pragmatic thinkers will always be one of judgment and decision (Are the two writings he chooses from Richard Rorty's work, "Philosophy as a Kind of Writing" and "Postmodernist Bourgeois Liberalism" really more appropriate to this collection? I would choose others.) and we may quibble with one or two and suggest others but Menand has made his choices and given his rationale and we, as readers, can ask no more. What is served up is insightful and powerful (when taken together) as an example of pragmatic thoughts in practice and, as such, demonstrates the oft written thought of William James that Pragmatism "does not stand for any special results. It is a method only." James means that pragmatists don't have to agree to be pragmatic for being pragmatic is "trac[ing] out in the imagination the conceivable practical consequences.....of the affirmation or denial" (C.S. Peirce) of whatever belief, truth or proposal you have in mind. Thus, we realise that Pragmatism as a philosophy is at least contextual, subjective and case by case. As a reader in Pragmatism this book does a superb job of demonstrating this and Menand, as editor, is to be congratulated. Much recommended.

PoSTmodERnFoOL

30 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Helpful and interesting. 3-stars...but I'm hard to please..., July 8, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Pragmatism: A Reader (Paperback)

A good selection of readings with all sorts different authors. Putnam, James, Rorty, Dewy and West--just to name a few. The selections are interesting and varied enough to give the beginner to pragmatism an interesting first or second taste. For those that are more familiar with pragmatism, this gives a selection of authors that one may not be familiar with (be they contemporaries like Putnam or one of the originators like Dewey). Pragmatism apart from being (arguably) "true" (and any pragmatist should understand the scare quotes) is also a whole lot of fun!! An anthology with variety and short-ish readings is doubly so. Also, the introduction I think, is to be commended. It's pretty good and would be worth reading apart from this collection.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, February 10, 2008

By 

Zorro-3 "zorro-3" (Marietta, GA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pragmatism: A Reader (Paperback)

Could be considered the "sequel" to the other "Pragmatism" (by William James.) James sort of sketched the landscape and this book fills in the detail, with color. If you haven't read James's book, read it first, then this one.

Both eminently readable, but only for those who are into such things.