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Pragmatism
A concise, reader-friendly overview of pragmatism, the most influential school of American philosophical thought.
Pragmatism, America’s homegrown philosophy, has been a major intellectual movement for over a century. Unlike its rivals, it reaches well beyond the confines of philosophy into concerns and disciplines as diverse as religion, politics, science, and culture. In this concise, engagingly written overview, John R. Shook describes pragmatism’s origins, concepts, and continuing global relevance and appeal. With attention to the movement’s original thinkers—Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead—as well as its contemporary proponents, he explains how pragmatism thinks about what is real, what can be known, and what minds are doing. And because of pragmatism’s far-reaching impact, Shook shows how its views on reality, truth, knowledge, and cognition coordinate with its approaches to agency, sociality, human nature, and personhood.
Pragmatism, America’s homegrown philosophy, has been a major intellectual movement for over a century. Unlike its rivals, it reaches well beyond the confines of philosophy into concerns and disciplines as diverse as religion, politics, science, and culture. In this concise, engagingly written overview, John R. Shook describes pragmatism’s origins, concepts, and continuing global relevance and appeal. With attention to the movement’s original thinkers—Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead—as well as its contemporary proponents, he explains how pragmatism thinks about what is real, what can be known, and what minds are doing. And because of pragmatism’s far-reaching impact, Shook shows how its views on reality, truth, knowledge, and cognition coordinate with its approaches to agency, sociality, human nature, and personhood.
- GenresPhilosophy
296 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 2, 2023
9 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
John R. Shook
66 books13 followersJohn R. Shook teaches philosophy at Bowie State University in Maryland. He is coeditor of The Blackwell Companion to Pragmatism and Neuroscience, Neurophilosophy, and Pragmatism.
He is also an instructor of science education for the ‘Science and the Public’ EdM online program at the University at Buffalo. In recent years he has been Adjunct Instructor in Philosophy and Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia; and Associate Fellow at the Center for Neurotechnology Studies in the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Virginia. Since 2015 he has contributed research for the US Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) program. At Georgetown University, he works with James Giordano of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, and has mentored students in its Medical Ethics course. Dr. Shook’s research areas include history and philosophy of science, philosophy and ethics of technology, neurophilosophy, ethics and moral psychology, bioethics and neuroethics, medical humanities, and science-religion dialogue.
He is also an instructor of science education for the ‘Science and the Public’ EdM online program at the University at Buffalo. In recent years he has been Adjunct Instructor in Philosophy and Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia; and Associate Fellow at the Center for Neurotechnology Studies in the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Virginia. Since 2015 he has contributed research for the US Department of Defense (DoD) Strategic Multilayer Assessment (SMA) program. At Georgetown University, he works with James Giordano of the Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, and has mentored students in its Medical Ethics course. Dr. Shook’s research areas include history and philosophy of science, philosophy and ethics of technology, neurophilosophy, ethics and moral psychology, bioethics and neuroethics, medical humanities, and science-religion dialogue.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 2, 2024
Still deciding between spreadsheets and love?? Consider being more Pragmatic! 😘
We are now in this "conscious present" having arrived genetically and socially. Everything was just fine until they offered "synthetic freedom" which leaves us no peace! Should we decide emotionally? ...or start looking for answers in science? The second may kind of take a little more than a lifetime.
Idea!! What if we math everything into a workable average? May name this Pragmatism. 🤔
I am quite amazed with how much the author fit into this book. Good job!
We are now in this "conscious present" having arrived genetically and socially. Everything was just fine until they offered "synthetic freedom" which leaves us no peace! Should we decide emotionally? ...or start looking for answers in science? The second may kind of take a little more than a lifetime.
Idea!! What if we math everything into a workable average? May name this Pragmatism. 🤔
I am quite amazed with how much the author fit into this book. Good job!
February 5, 2024
Clear and effective
An impressively clear introduction to Pragmatism as a philosophy. There are areas you will need to chew through, and some basic sense of who the main people are will help, but it impressively achieves its stated goal of introducing and exploring (and advocating) pragmatism as a philosophy.
Will have to check out others in this MIT series if this is in any way the standard.
An impressively clear introduction to Pragmatism as a philosophy. There are areas you will need to chew through, and some basic sense of who the main people are will help, but it impressively achieves its stated goal of introducing and exploring (and advocating) pragmatism as a philosophy.
Will have to check out others in this MIT series if this is in any way the standard.
August 15, 2023
More technical than I was expecting so a lot of it went over my head, but I got the gist of it... I think.
July 8, 2025
Three stars for the coherent explanation of pragmatism, but it's weird that the author presents it as a perfect philosophical system, only mentioning objections by way of preemptively rebutting them. The last few lines say something to the effect of "pragmatism is a perfect, complete system." It's an MIT primer for undergrads so I'd think it's supposed to offer a balanced picture of its subject matter but I guess not.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews