The American Evasion of Philosophy

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The American Evasion of Philosophy A GENEALOGY OF PRAGMATISM Cornel West "The American Evasion of Philosophy is a highly intelligent and provocative book. Cornel West gives us illuminating readings of the political thought of Emerson and James; provides a penetrating critical assessment of Dewey, his central figure; and offers a brilliant interpretation -appreciative yet far from uncritical -of the contemporary philosopher and neo-pragmatist Richárd Rorty. . . . What shines through, throughout the work, is West's firm commitment to a radical vision of philosophic discourse as inextricably linked to cultural criticism and political engagement." - Paul S. Boyer Merle Curti Professor of History University of Wisconsin-Madison "This is a very ambitious effort to teli a story (a clear, vigorously stated, exciting story) about American thought which begins with Emerson, takes Dewey as the central figure, and ends with the present. ... I believe that The American Evasion of Philosophy will... Tovább

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The American Evasion of Philosophy A GENEALOGY OF PRAGMATISM Cornel West "The American Evasion of Philosophy is a highly intelligent and provocative book. Cornel West gives us illuminating readings of the political thought of Emerson and James; provides a penetrating critical assessment of Dewey, his central figure; and offers a brilliant interpretation -appreciative yet far from uncritical -of the contemporary philosopher and neo-pragmatist Richárd Rorty. . . . What shines through, throughout the work, is West's firm commitment to a radical vision of philosophic discourse as inextricably linked to cultural criticism and political engagement." - Paul S. Boyer Merle Curti Professor of History University of Wisconsin-Madison "This is a very ambitious effort to teli a story (a clear, vigorously stated, exciting story) about American thought which begins with Emerson, takes Dewey as the central figure, and ends with the present. ... I believe that The American Evasion of Philosophy will be widely read and respectfully reviewed, and that it may weil become a standard account of the role of pragmatism in American thought." - Richárd Rorty Kenan Professor of Humanities University of Virginia Taking Emerson as his starting point, Cornel West's basic task in this ambitious enterprise is to chart the emergence, development, decline, and recent resurgence of American pragmatism. John Dewey is the central figure in West's pantheon of pragmatists, but he treats as weil such varied mid-century representatives of the tradition as Sidney Hook, C. Wright Mills, W E. B. Du Bois, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Lionel Trilling. West's "genealogy" is, ultimately, a very personal work, for it is imbued throughout with the author's conviction that a thorough reexamination of American pragmatism may help inspire and instruct contemporary efforts to remake and reform American society and culture. CORNEL WEST is Professor of Religion and Director of Afro American Studies at Princeton University. His previous publications include two books, Prophesy Deliverance! An Afro-American Revolutionary Christianity (1982) and Prophetic Fragments (1988), and a coedited volume (with John Rajchman), Post-Analytic Philosophy (1985). The University of Wisconsin Press 114 North Murray Street Madison, WI 53715 Vissza