This comprehensive collection, bringing together significant essays by leading philosophers of the twentieth century, represents one prominent school of American thought philosophic naturalism. Naturalism holds that nature is objective and can be studied to gain knowledge that is not determined by methodology, perspective, belief, or theory. For the naturalist, "nature" is an all-encompassing concept; nothing is other than natural and any notion of a supernatural realm is rejected. Naturalism, however, cannot be equated with materialistic reductionism or strict determinism. Certain nonmaterial (...) aspects of human existence thoughts, feelings, meanings, values, beliefs, ideals, and free will are included within the scope of the naturalist's approach. (shrink)

This is both a small and a large book. In number of pages it is modest, but it aspires to sort through a very large topic indeed. One of the challenges for a naturalist theology, which is to say a naturalist conception of the divine, and perhaps more importantly of the sacred, is to resolve the obvious problem of accommodating as an element of nature an entity that has for the most part been understood as supernatural. Yalcin’s book attempts to (...) do just that. Though I have some misgivings about this and that detail, which I will mention below, Yalcin succeeds, I would say, in articulating a coherent, plausible, creative, and wholly interesting understanding of the sacred on strictly naturalist grounds.It is... (shrink)

In _Knowledge, Art, and Power_ John Ryder develops a pragmatic naturalist theory of experience that posits the cognitive, the aesthetic, and the political as the most general and pervasive dimensions of all human experience.

Contemporary pragmatic naturalism -- Reconciling pragmatism and naturalism -- Value of pragmatic naturalism -- Being and knowing -- Ontology of constitutive relations -- Particulars and relations -- Making sense of world making -- God and faith -- Art and knowledge -- Social experience -- Democratic challenge -- Democracy and its problems -- International relations and foreign policy -- Cosmopolitanism and humanism -- Pragmatic, naturalism, and the big narrative.

The Things in Heaven and Earth develops and applies the American philosophical naturalist tradition of the mid-20th century, specifically the work of three of the most prominent figures of what is called Columbia Naturalism: John Dewey, John Herman Randall Jr., and Justus Buchler. The book argues for the philosophical value and usefulness of this underappreciated tradition for a number of contemporary theoretical and practical issues, such as the modernist/postmodernist divide and debates over philosophical constructivism. Pragmatic naturalism offers a distinctive ontology (...) of constitutive relations. Relying on Buchler's ordinal ontology and on the relationality implicit in Dewey's instrumentalism, the book gives a detailed account of this approach in chapters that deal with issues in systematic ontology, epistemology, constructivism and objectivity, philosophical theology, art, democratic theory, foreign policy, education, humanism, and cosmopolitanism. (shrink)

While rooted in careful study of Mead’s original writings and transcribed lectures and the historical context in which that work was carried out, the papers in this volume have brought Mead’s work to bear on contemporary issues in metaphysics, epistemology, cognitive science, and social and political philosophy.

Philosophical Pragmatism and International Relations bridges the gap between philosophical pragmatism and international relations, two disciplinary perspectives that together shed light on how to advance the study and conduct of foreign affairs. Authors in this collection discuss a broad range of issues, from policy relevance to peacekeeping operations, with an eye to understanding how this distinctly American philosophy, pragmatism, can improve both international relations research and foreign policy practice.

This book is the fourth volume of selected papers from the Central European Pragmatist Forum (CEPF). It deals with the general question of self and society, and the papers are organized into sections on Self and History, Self and Society, Self and Politics, Self and Neopragmatism, and an Interview with Richard Rorty. The authors are among the leading specialists in American philosophy from universities across the US and in Central and Eastern Europe.

This is the first collection of all of the major philosophical works of Cadwallader Colden, one of the most accomplished intellectual and political figures in the American colonies before the Revolution. As Lieutenant Governor of New York he was intimately involved in the tumultuous political life of the times, and he represented the colonial government to the five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. His History of the Five Indian Nations was the first English history of the Iroquois and a popular (...) book both in the colonies and in Europe. A prolific letter writer, Colden corresponded with many of the major intellectuals of his day, including Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Johnson. He also wrote extensively on a wide range of topics, including philosophy, history, the natural sciences, and mathematics. Although several of Colden's works have been available in anthologies, until now there has never been a collection of all of his philosophical writings. This anthology includes The Principles of Action in Matter, the Introduction to Phylosophy, the Introduction to The History of the Five Indian Nations, and the complete correspondence with Samuel Johnson on the subject of materialism and idealism. Also included is the first publication of Principles of Morality, written in 1745, but never published till now. For students of American philosophy, as well as those interested in the intellectual history of the colonial period, this is an essential work. (shrink)

The essays in this volume are from the Second Conference of the Central European Pragmatist Forum, held in Krakow, Poland in 2002. Written by prominent specialists in pragmatism and American philosophy from the United States and Europe, they survey contemporary thinking on classical and contemporary pragmatism, social and political theory, ethics, aesthetics, experience, knowledge, rationality, metaphysics, and the application of pragmatist thought in contemporary Europe.

This chapter contains sections titled: Introduction: The Span of Early American Philosophy The Context of Early American Thought The Trajectory of Early American Philosophy Seventeenth‐Century Puritanism Early Eighteenth Century Later Eighteenth Century Conclusion.

This book is the third volume of selected papers from the Central European Pragmatist Forum . It deals with the general question of education, and the papers are organized into sections on Education and Democracy, Education and Values, Education and Social Reconstruction, and Education and the Self. The authors are among the leading specialists in American philosophy from universities across the U.S. and in Central and Eastern Europe.Studies in Pragmatism and Values promotes the study of pragmatism’s traditions and figures, and (...) the explorations of pragmatic inquiries in all areas of philosophical thought. (shrink)

In his pioneering new book Interpreting America, John Ryder makes available for the first time to English-speaking readers Russian views of the full range of American philosophical thought. Using his own accurate translations, he clearly reconstructs a chain of core ideas, emphasizes the most essential concepts of each writer's work, and gives a multidimensional reconstruction of the arguments of each author.

This book is the fifth volume of selected papers from the Central European Pragmatist Forum (CEPF). The CEPF was founded in 2000 to provide an opportunity for American and European specialists in American philosophy to share their work with one another and to develop an understanding of the contemporary applications of the American philosophical traditions. The current volume deals with the general questions of identity and social transformation. Papers are organized into sections on the Transformation of Pragmatism, Metatheoretical conditions for (...) Identity Transformation, the Fluidity of Identity, Transforming Self, Transforming Society, Art and Transformation, Richard Rorty on the Transformation of Society and Self, and Pragmatism and Central Europe. The authors are among the leading specialists in American philosophy from universities across the US and in Central and Eastern Europe. In their papers the authors address a range of topics, including comparative analyses of American philosophical figures with prominent representatives of other philosophical traditions, contemporary issues in ethics, aesthetics and social philosophy, unresolved problems in American philosophy, and issues of contemporary policy. All papers deal in one way or another with the general theme of identity and transformation, individual and social. (shrink)

The essays in this volume are from the First Conference of the Central European Pragmatist Forum, held in Slovakia in 2000. Written by prominent specialists in pragmatism and American philosophy from the United States and Europe, they survey contemporary thinking on classical and contemporary pragmatism, social and political theory, aesthetics, and the application of pragmatist thought in contemporary Europe.

Ryder's engaging text welcomes students and practicing teachers into the intellectual framework of current education systems and pedagogy. Not assuming prior knowledge of philosophy, the book outlines general principles, acknowledges outlying factors, and presents a systematic and socially conscious approach to the practice of teaching.

: James Campbell's recent book A Thoughtful Profession is an important contribution to our understanding of the state of professional philosophy at the turn of the 20th century, of the development of the American Philosophical Association, and the character of philosophy itself. Its value lies in several points: 1) understanding the historical roots of the APA helps us to understand its contemporary condition; 2) by exploring the origins of the APA Campbell sheds light on the issues that moved philosophers a (...) century ago, and how they envisioned the discipline developing as a serious, academic profession; 3) the survey the book provides of the arguments then current over the nature of the philosophical enterprise are relevant today as practicing philosophers continue to debate the nature of the discipline, and it suggests important similarities with other disciplines; and 4) the account of the reasons for the creation of the APA remind us how important it is that philosophers continue to have organized, institutional ways for us to communicate. Campbell has written an immensely valuable and interesting book. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Edited by Jean De Groot 7a Nature in American Philosophy. The Catholic University of America Press, 2004 κ-—ι and scientific thought in the mid-19 century and the significant role played ^ by Chauncey Wright. But it is not clear how this bears on the question of nature as a philosophical concept, unless one assumes that science itself bears some special relation to the knowledge of nature. This, however, would (...) be to beg the philosophical question. If, for example, nature is defined as that to which only natural science has access, then to discuss science and its development has an obvious point. But if we are to understand nature more broadly, for example as "whatever is in whatever way," to use Justus Buchler's expression, then to speak about the development of science is no more directly relevant to an unfolding understanding of nature than to speak about the development of poetry. The point is not that an examination of Wright's conception of science is not significant, but simply that it is not equivalent to a discussion of Wright's conception of nature. Despite these concerns, the book is a strong one, both because the idea of a collection of essays on the concept of nature in American thought is a good one, and because the essays themselves are aU interesting and instructive. Of particular interest are the essays that expand the usual scope of discussions of American philosophy, in particular Mansfield on Tocqueville and Rescher on art. Mansfield is interested in the way Tocqueville makes use of, or better resists, the prevalent conceptions of nature in his understanding of democracy. In short, political thinking of his time was likely to have recourse to nature either in the sense of the "state of nature" or in the sense of the inherent characteristics of things, as in the "nature of" something. Mansfield argues that Tocqueville rejected both of these conceptions of nature in his attempt to understand democracy, the first being too prone to chaos and the second being too deterministic. Tocqueville did not describe democracy as natural, but rather as a "providential fact." The bulk of this very interesting essay is an exploration of what Tocqueville may have meant by a "providential fact," and how he understood democracy in relation to nature and providence. In his piece on American art Rescher is interested in the ways in which the varying conceptions of nature have been expressed in the visual arts, primarily painting but also sculpture. The book includes several black and white reproductions that Rescher uses to illustrate his points. We see, for example, a painting from the Hudson River School in which the natural environment is an overwhelming presence by comparison with a small cabin in a field and a barely visible horse and rider. Other prints from other periods and schools illustrate a natural environment dominated by human artifice, for better or worse, or depict a more harmonious integration of nature and technology. We also see an example of the romantic sense of nature pervaded by value, in this case beauty, in one of James Audubon's paintings of hummingbirds. In works of more recent vintage we see expressions of g^7 ^0 human alienation from nature and nature as transfigured by social develop- ^ ment. Rescher's discussion and examples do not debate the relative merits of ^-, the various perceptions of nature and its relation to human being, though in ^ the end he does urge on us an "enlightened pragmatism" that will treat ^ nature not simply as the environing condition in which people act, but as a source of value and an ideal. In this respect Rescher ends the book at a point not dissimilar from where it began with Goodman's account of Emerson and Thoreau. Nature in American Philosophy is on the whole a book that rewards the reader's close attention. As an exploration of a central theme in American philosophy it is to be welcomed. There should be more like it. John Ryder The State University of New York, [email protected] Translated, and with an introduction by Ramon Del Castillo La Opinion Publica y Sus Problemas (Spanish Translation of The Public and Its... (shrink)