Courses: The Metaphysical Club: American Pragmatism in Theory and Practice (HISTH247B01)
Spring 2009
American Pragmatism in Theory and Practice. This course will reconstruct the late nineteenth through mid-twentieth century development of what was celebrated and criticized as a characteristically American approach to philosophy. Beginning with the writings of Charles S. Peirce, William James, and Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., members of the so-called Metaphysical Club, we will trace the theorizing of eupraxia [good practice, articulating empirical and normative concerns] in religion, philosophy, science, and politics by sampling the synoptic work of John Dewey, a "godfather" of modern liberalism. After surveying the intellectual landscape of the mid-late twentieth-century, we will conclude by sampling the work of philosophers Richard Bernstein, Hilary Putnam, and Richard Rorty, contemporary neo-pragmatists.
Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or consent.
Fulfills: SO I
DepartmentTaught By |
Meeting TimesMW 12:30-2:00 |