Customer Reviews

The Revival of Pragmatism: New Essays on Social Thought, Law, and Culture (Post-Contemporary Interventions)

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This is an excellent and important book of well-written positions from a variety of perspectives. A fan of pragmatism may be turned off by the 2nd through the 6th essays, but of the following 25 at least 23 or 24 are well worth reading. The section on law debates the question of whether philosophy influences or "supports" law. I came away, as I'd been before, convinced that moving to pragmatism in philosophy is likely to have a good effect on legal opinions and that Rorty is absurdly unfair to the value of his own work by stressing that law can get on without traditional philosophy. Of course it can, but what needs to be said is that we would be better off if it did. The concluding essay by Stanley Fish is wonderful and makes a point I've been trying to find someone to agree with for years, namely that religious tolerance is a contradiction in terms; tolerance is a restriction on religion.

The revival of pragmatism, which can largely be traced to Richard Rorty's work provides an important framework for a variety of problems ranging from philosophical, through legal, cultural and literary. For someone who wants a good overview of the debates around pragmatism, this volume provides a good introduction.

The variety of essays provides a good selection of the span of modern pragmatist thought. It includes excellent articles by both Rorty and Putnam, who have very different philosophical takes on pragmatism. A few excellent survey articles on the history of pragmatism and articles that engage specific applications of pragmatist thought. As might be expected, the summary article by Stanley Fish is sure to infuriate some readers.

This is a book for someone who has a background understanding of pragmatism, but wants to learn more the uses to which it is being put.