Perspectives on Pragmatism: Classical, Recent, and Contemporary

Another collection of fascinating essays by one of contemporary philosophy's deepest thinkers. Robert Brandom is almost unique in our generation in combining an illuminating, syncretic, historical perspective, with a highly original and often richly detailed extension of the tradition about which he writes so well.--Huw Price, University of Sydney Robert Brandom is the preeminent pragmatic thinker of his generation. Here, he traces the roots of pragmatism back to Kant and Hegel; argues that it has been developed by Heidegger, Wittgenstein, and the "classical" American pragmatists (Peirce, James, and Dewey); and further refined by such neo-pragmatists as Sellars, Rorty, and Putnam. His interpretations are frequently controversial, but always thought-provoking. Against this rich tradition, he hones his own version of a linguistic analytic pragmatism. Anyone interested in pragmatism in all its varieties, the state of contemporary debate about pragmatism, or Brandom's own ambitious philosophic project, will find this book invaluable.--Richard J. Bernstein, New School for Social Research