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the lasting legacy of William James and John Dewey
Throughout his diverse and highly influential career, Hilary Putnam was famous for changing his mind. As a pragmatist he treated philosophical "positions" as experiments in deliberate living. His aim was not to fix on one position but to attempt to do justice to the depth and complexity of reality. In this new collection, he and Ruth Anna Putnam argue that key elements of the classical pragmatism of William James and John Dewey provide a framework for the most progressive and forward-looking forms of philosophy in contemporary thought. The Putnams present a compelling defense of the radical originality of the philosophical ideas of James and Dewey and their usefulness in confronting the urgent social, political, and moral problems of the twenty-first century. This collection brings together almost all of the Putnams' pragmatist writings, essays they wrote as individuals and as coauthors. The pragmatism they endorse, though respectful of the sciences, is an open experience-based philosophy of our everyday lives that trenchantly criticizes the fact/value dualism running through contemporary culture. Hilary Putnam argues that all facts are dependent on cognitive values, while Ruth Anna Putnam turns the problem around, illuminating the factual basis of moral principles. Together, they offer a shared vision which, in Hilary's words, "could serve as a manifesto for what the two of us would like philosophy to look like in the twenty-first century and beyond.
The insights of classical and neo-pragmatism: Taking pragmatism seriously / Hilary Putnam and Ruth Anna Putnam -- Pragmatism and Verificationism / Hilary Putnam -- What makes pragmatism so different? / Hilary Putnam -- Pragmatism and nonscientific knowledge / Hilary Putnam -- Weaving seamless webs / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Rorty's vision: philosophical courage and social hope / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Reflections on the future of pragmatism / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Key topics in the pragmatism of James and Dewey: Was James a pragmatist? / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Pragmatism and Realism / Hilary Putnam -- What the spilled beans can spell: the difficult and deep realism of William James / Hilary Putnam and Ruth Anna Putnam -- James's theory of truth / Hilary Putnam -- James on truth (again) / Hilary Putnam -- James's philosophical friendships, 1902-1905 / Hilary Putnam -- What James's pragmatism offers us: a reading of the first chapter of Pragmatism / Hilary Putnam -- Varieties of experience and pluralities of perspective / Ruth Anna Putnam -- William James on religion / Ruth Anna Putnam -- The real William James: response to Robert Meyers / Hilary Putnam and Ruth Anna Putnam -- Dewey's central insight / Hilary Putnam -- Dewey's epistemology / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Dewey's faith / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Pragmatist conceptions of moral value and democracy: Philosophy as a reconstructive activity: William James on moral philosophy / Hilary Putnam -- The moral impulse / Ruth Anna Putnam -- The moral life of a pragmatist / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Creating facts and values / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Perceiving facts and values / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Democracy and value inquiry / Ruth Anna Putnam -- Democracy as a way of life / Ruth Anna Putnam.
Hilary Putnam, Ruth Anna Putnam ; edited by David Macarthur.
Includes bibliographical references and index.