"Richard J. Bernstein argues that many of the important themes in philosophy during the past 150 years are variations and developments of ideas that were prominent in the classical American pragmatists: Charles S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George H. Mead. The pragmatic thinkers reject a sharp dichotomy between subject and object, mind-body dualism, the quest for certainty, and the spectator theory of knowledge. They seek to bring about a sea change in philosophy that highlights the social character of human experience and normative social practices, the self-correcting nature of all inquiry, and the continuity of theory and practice. And they - especially James, Dewey, and Mead - emphasize the democratic ethical-political consequences of a pragmatic orientation. Many of the themes developed by the pragmatic thinkers were central to the work of major twentieth-century philosophers such as Wittgenstein and Heidegger, but the so-called analytic/Continental split obscures this underlying continuity. Bernstein develops an alternative reading of contemporary philosophy that brings out the persistence and continuity of pragmatic themes. He explains why the discussion of pragmatism is alive, varied, and widespread"--Dust jacket.

One of the leading American philosophers writing and teaching today, Richard J. Bernstein is Vera List Professor of Philosophy at the New School for Social Research in New York and former dean of its graduate faculty. Prior to that, for more than two decades he was?professor of philosophy at Haverford College. Few contemporary philosophers are as influential in so many different intellectual disciplines and discussions as Bernstein. He is at home not only among American pragmatic philosophers with whom he is so closely identified but equally with Continental thinkers.

Preface.

Prologue.

1. Charles S. Peirce's Critique of Cartesianism.

2. The Ethical Consequences of William James's Pragmatic Pluralism.

3. John Dewey's Vision of Radical Democracy.

4. Hegel and Pragmatism.

5. Pragmatism, Objectivity, and Truth.

6. Experience and the Linguistic Turn.

7. Hilary Putnam: The Entanglement of Fact and Value.

8. Jürgen Habermas's Kantian Pragmatism.

9. Richard Rorty's Deep Humanism.

Bibliography.