The founder of American pragmatism, C.S. Peirce, lived as an eccentric, but thought as a dedicated communitarian. In Reading Peirce Reading, Richard Smyth demonstrates that Peirce's early essays presuppose a very distinctive perspective on the history of philosophy. One important mark of a major philosopher, Smyth argues, is that the philosopher causes us to read the history of thought in new ways. Smyth shows not only that Peirce passes that test, but that Peirce's philosophical practice actually did conform to his (...) communal ideal for inquiry. Students and scholars interested in the history of philosophy and pragmatism will want to read this book. (shrink)

The author's objective is to defend what he regards as a moderate or middle position on the relationship between the moral point of view and the point of view of the individual. Unlike those who hold that the two must always collide and those who hold that they must ultimately coincide, the author holds that there is a potential for congruence between them. His pursuit of this issue leads to a review of "morality's content, authority, scope, and deliberative role". The (...) rather complex argumentative structure of the work reflects in part the rich combinatorial possibilities of these factors, taken separately and together. (shrink)