Streams of Experience: Reflections on the History and Philosophy of American Culture

by John J. McDermott

Our experiences periodically convulse and disturb us. They force themselves upon us and demand awareness, retrospection, and evaluation. This book has as its intention to assist the reader to plumb those streams of experience that affect us in a distinctively American way. What shakes us are questions about death, loneliness, transiency, the handicapped, the bomb, pollution, violence, cultural literacy, urban aesthetics, the meaning of America and of the end of the century. These are the streams of American experience. They force us to ask, in the spirit of Emerson, not only what we know, but what we should do.

In these essays the distinguished philosopher John J. McDermott reflects on these experiences and upon the primacy of connections, relations, growth, and development in understanding them. He presents the central and unifying idea that we have the capacity to diagnose their nature and our relation to them. By thus focusing attention on activities and phenomena too often ignored by professional philosophers, he also presents an implicit critique of American academic philosophy. But his major purpose is to assist us in coming to terms with being in the world, by showing us philosophical ideas at work in the task of understanding the fabric of American culture.

Genres: Philosophy

266 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1986

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

McDermott's first chapter, a linear discussion of Western philosophy (Plato-Augustine-Descartes-Hume-Kant-Marx-Nietzsche-William James) is about as clear and coherent as any I've read. Anyone interested in American philosophy (Emerson, James, and Dewey in particular) should read on from there.

The author's favorite word seems to be nectar; also overused are chary, salvific (once is too much) and covenant as a noun and verb.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to say I "enjoyed" this book, but I did get some enjoyment out of the afterthoughts.
McDermott started out with some pertinent background in ancient philosophical thought, which was great. Where I really could say I enjoyed the book was in the relating of pragmatism to everyday matters. Insightful was the understanding of how pragmatism has fluctuated as a philosophical tradition endemic to America.
McDermott has a fascination with death it seems. I certainly understand his explanation of why death is important to understand and talk about for a society, but I thought (I could be off the mark here) that he spent too much time on it, and frankly his chapter on the handicapped. It was getting off track a bit.
The book started out great and then fluctuated on keeping my interest and then fizzled at the end. But I am glad I took the time to read this important book on pragmatism.