CHUM321 - American Pragmatist Philosophy: Purposes, Meanings, and Truths

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Academic Year 2004/2005

American Pragmatist Philosophy: Purposes, Meanings, and Truths
CHUM 321 SP

Crosslistings:
PHIL 321

The course sketches and evaluates an American tradition of more or less overtly pragmatist thinkers in philosophy and the human sciences, stretching roughly from Emerson and Peirce at the beginning, through William James, George Herbert Mead, and John Dewey in the heyday of the pragmatist public intellectual, to recent and current writers as diverse as Cornell West, Robert Brandom, Richard Rorty, Ian Hacking, and Ruth Millikan. These thinkers offer variations on the premise that all meanings gesture not only backwards to facts and things, but also forwards to the practical circumstances and purposes of interpreters. As purposes shift, so do meanings: and as meanings shift, so does truth--for whether we accept a claim as true depends above all else on its meaning.

Pragmatist theories have been subjected to frequent caricature as implying that ideas can mean whatever we take them to mean, or that what is true varies according to what each individual finds convenient and expedient to believe. What does it mean, then, to retain a sense of respect for truth? While some pragmatist accounts do explicitly deflate the importance of the concept of truth, others claim not only to respect truth, but to offer an account of truth that allows us to inquire more clearly into the evolving but real meaning of moral judgements, religious and aesthetic claims, psychological attributions, and other deeply contested candidates for human belief.

MAJOR READINGS

Most readings will be drawn from J. Stuhr, ed., PRAGMATISM AND CLASSICAL AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY; seminar participants will also take responsibility for browsing and evaluating further primary and secondary literature. Those wishing to read in advance of the seminar may benefit from Cornell West's THE AMERICAN EVASION OF PHILOSOPHY.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Students will prepare for the seminar each week with short critical essays, and come prepared to present and discuss concerns and questions from the material. Two such essays will be developed into longer papers.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Course enrollment requires permission of instructor. This is a seminar intended for advanced students with a solid orientation to philosophical issues and approaches. Students with a strong background in related disciplines (including psychology, American Studies, College of Letters) are encouraged to inquire with the instructor.

Prerequisites: Any three Philosophy courses. Certain courses in Psychology, and AMST 152, may facilitate prerequisite overrides.

COURSE FORMAT: Seminar

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA PHIL Grading Mode: Student Option

Prerequisites: NONE

SECTION 01

Instructor(s): Springer,Elise

Times: ...W... 07:00PM-09:50PM; Location: RUSLSEM;

Reserved Seats: (Total Limit: 15)

Special Attributes:

Curricular Renewal: Writing

Permission: Permission of Instructor Required

Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005