This article deals with some intercultural and phenomenological uses of pragmatist thought. In the first part, early methods of comparative philosophy are linked to James's radical empiricism. The second part analyses Dewey's social philosophy, interpreted from the intercultural perspective and linked to James's philosophy. The third part argues for an enlargement of the uses of Deweyan social thought in the broader intercultural contexts. Finally, the phenomenology of breath is introduced and proposed as the basis for a new pragmatist social ethics (...) of solidarity. (shrink)