What do you think?
Rate this book
The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism
Book by West, Cornel
279 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1989
14 people are currently reading
1194 people want to read
About the author
Cornel West
153 books1,220 followersCornel Ronald West is an American scholar and public intellectual. Formerly at Harvard University, West is currently a professor of Religion at Princeton. West says his intellectual contributions draw from such diverse traditions as the African American Baptist Church, Marxism, pragmatism, transcendentalism, and Anton Chekhov.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 26, 2021
American Jihad
Cornel West conceives of the philosophy of Pragmatism as the American Mind trying to make sense of itself. This is a productive perspective, among other reasons because it helps to explain both the sources and historical trajectory of American philosophy. It is also a perspective which reveals the intellectual and moral perils of self-analysis. In particular the rationalisation of one’s interests becomes inevitable; and one’s actions, no matter how cruel or absurd, are justified.
West places the origin of Pragmatism with Emerson. This is reasonable. But of course Emerson is in turn the product of an established culture which is unique and contains its own embedded contradictions. The most profound of these is found in Emerson’s brand of New England Unitarianism, a theism which bizarrely emerged from the strict Calvinism of its 17th century immigrants. Barely Christian in its theology, this Universalism was not a religion of passivity but of what Emerson called ‘conversion.’ We know this better as Jihad, the struggle to overcome moral corruption in both America and the world.
Emerson’s Pelagian theology of conversion is the foundation of Pragmatism: “... that the only sin is limitation, [i.e., constraints on power] that sin is overcomable; and that it is beautiful and good that sin should exist to be overcome.” This is the modern good news that America is meant to proclaim throughout the world, if necessary through violence. In West’s judgment: “Conversion of the world and moral regeneration for individuals are related to conquest and violence not solely because Emerson devalues those peoples associated with virgin lands, cheap labor, and the wilderness-e.g., Indians, Negroes, women-but also because for Emerson land, labor, and the wilderness signify unlimited possibilities and unprecedented opportunities for moral development.”
Importantly sin, for Emerson, is the intellectual conceit that anyone could know the truth: “There are no fixtures in nature. The universe is fluid and volatile. Permanence is but a word of degrees. Our globe seen by God is a transparent law, not a mass of facts. The law dissolves the fact and holds it fluid... People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.” But such relativism does not imply a hopeless epistemology for Emerson. There is a fixed point for him: “We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that what-ever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy.”
In short, what Emerson promotes is a militant faith with which any radical Islamist as well as St. Paul might identify. This militancy is directed not toward any specified evil but rather toward the way things are in general. Emerson’s is a philosophy of continuous disruption, a call for contrarianism by individuals who refuse to conform. The primary target of such disruption is the state itself: “Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey the laws too well. What satire on government can equal the severity of censure conveyed in the word politic, which now for ages has signified cunning, intimating that the State is a trick?” The real nation, therefore, is that collective of individuals which mistrusts and harasses the political entity in which it finds itself.
The line between what might be called ‘continuous reform’ in Emerson and outright nihilism is paper thin. West cites Henry James Sr. about his effect on American thought: “He was an American John the Baptist, proclaiming tidings of great joy to the American Israel; but, like John the Baptist, he could so little foretell the form in which the predicted good was to appear, that when you went to him he was always uncertain whether you were he who should come, or another.” What has come is not a nation of self-sacrificing people building a city on the hill but “... the concrete nihilism in working-class and underclass American communities-the pervasive drug addiction, suicides, alcoholism, male violence against women, white violence against black, yellow, and brown people, and the black criminality against others, especially other black people.”And, of course, Donald Trump and his evangelical enablers.
I was brought up in the traditions of Pragmatism. Emerson is part of my intellectual DNA. Charles Sanders Peirce has been my hero of thought for half a century. I have attempted to live my professional life according to the principles of increasing inclusion of interests and points of view. So it comes as a great shock to read West’s deconstruction of the framework of my thought-world. I would like to call my experience enlightening, but for the moment I am in a place of almost complete darkness. This is not a bad thing.
Cornel West conceives of the philosophy of Pragmatism as the American Mind trying to make sense of itself. This is a productive perspective, among other reasons because it helps to explain both the sources and historical trajectory of American philosophy. It is also a perspective which reveals the intellectual and moral perils of self-analysis. In particular the rationalisation of one’s interests becomes inevitable; and one’s actions, no matter how cruel or absurd, are justified.
West places the origin of Pragmatism with Emerson. This is reasonable. But of course Emerson is in turn the product of an established culture which is unique and contains its own embedded contradictions. The most profound of these is found in Emerson’s brand of New England Unitarianism, a theism which bizarrely emerged from the strict Calvinism of its 17th century immigrants. Barely Christian in its theology, this Universalism was not a religion of passivity but of what Emerson called ‘conversion.’ We know this better as Jihad, the struggle to overcome moral corruption in both America and the world.
Emerson’s Pelagian theology of conversion is the foundation of Pragmatism: “... that the only sin is limitation, [i.e., constraints on power] that sin is overcomable; and that it is beautiful and good that sin should exist to be overcome.” This is the modern good news that America is meant to proclaim throughout the world, if necessary through violence. In West’s judgment: “Conversion of the world and moral regeneration for individuals are related to conquest and violence not solely because Emerson devalues those peoples associated with virgin lands, cheap labor, and the wilderness-e.g., Indians, Negroes, women-but also because for Emerson land, labor, and the wilderness signify unlimited possibilities and unprecedented opportunities for moral development.”
Importantly sin, for Emerson, is the intellectual conceit that anyone could know the truth: “There are no fixtures in nature. The universe is fluid and volatile. Permanence is but a word of degrees. Our globe seen by God is a transparent law, not a mass of facts. The law dissolves the fact and holds it fluid... People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.” But such relativism does not imply a hopeless epistemology for Emerson. There is a fixed point for him: “We must trust the perfection of the creation so far, as to believe that what-ever curiosity the order of things has awakened in our minds, the order of things can satisfy.”
In short, what Emerson promotes is a militant faith with which any radical Islamist as well as St. Paul might identify. This militancy is directed not toward any specified evil but rather toward the way things are in general. Emerson’s is a philosophy of continuous disruption, a call for contrarianism by individuals who refuse to conform. The primary target of such disruption is the state itself: “Every actual State is corrupt. Good men must not obey the laws too well. What satire on government can equal the severity of censure conveyed in the word politic, which now for ages has signified cunning, intimating that the State is a trick?” The real nation, therefore, is that collective of individuals which mistrusts and harasses the political entity in which it finds itself.
The line between what might be called ‘continuous reform’ in Emerson and outright nihilism is paper thin. West cites Henry James Sr. about his effect on American thought: “He was an American John the Baptist, proclaiming tidings of great joy to the American Israel; but, like John the Baptist, he could so little foretell the form in which the predicted good was to appear, that when you went to him he was always uncertain whether you were he who should come, or another.” What has come is not a nation of self-sacrificing people building a city on the hill but “... the concrete nihilism in working-class and underclass American communities-the pervasive drug addiction, suicides, alcoholism, male violence against women, white violence against black, yellow, and brown people, and the black criminality against others, especially other black people.”And, of course, Donald Trump and his evangelical enablers.
I was brought up in the traditions of Pragmatism. Emerson is part of my intellectual DNA. Charles Sanders Peirce has been my hero of thought for half a century. I have attempted to live my professional life according to the principles of increasing inclusion of interests and points of view. So it comes as a great shock to read West’s deconstruction of the framework of my thought-world. I would like to call my experience enlightening, but for the moment I am in a place of almost complete darkness. This is not a bad thing.
February 11, 2025
Cornel West's Prophetic Pragmatism
Cornel West has achieved public recognition as an intellectual activist, speaker, and writer on African-American studies and on black theology. He was one of a small number of University Professors -- those who are authorized to teach beyond Departmental boundaries -- at Harvard until 2001, when he took a position at Princeton. Although his PhD is in philosophy, West's philosophical studies are less well-known than is his social activism. But his early book, "The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism" (1989) is an impressive study of the history of a distinctly American movement in philosophy. The book covers a broad terrain, from philosophy to literary criticism to politics and social activism. The book includes much that is insightful in its exposition of major American thinkers, some material that is suggestive, and other material that may be provocative, if slapdash.
As the title suggests, a major theme of West's book is the manner in which American pragmatism "evades" philosophy. West argues that American philosophy does so by avoiding the Cartesian epistemological questions of representationalism (relationship between subject and object) that have been the bane of Western thought. West further argues that pragmatism "evades" philosophy by focusing on relations of social structure and power rather than mere intellectualizing. Finally, for West, pragmatism "evades" philosophy by focusing on the human subject, including particularly "constraints that reinforce and reproduce hierarchies based on class, race, gender, and sexual orientation." (p. 4)
West begins his study with an excellent discussion of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Many scholars have discussed the relationship between Emerson's transcendentalism and pragmatism. West gives a thoughtful analysis, focusing on Emerson's individualism, forward-looking vision and hope for a developing participatory American democracy. But West also sees Emerson as a representative of a modestly racist and hierarchical society bound too tightly, West argues, to middle-class American values and too little inclusive of women, African-Americans, immigrants, Indians, and other people.
West then proceeds through the early pragmatists, Charles Peirce and William James in treatments that are sympathetic but short. The philosopher that receives the greatest attention in the book is John Dewey with his instrumentalism and social and political concerns. James and Peirce had little direct to say about social issues, while Dewey, with his background in Hegel and in Darwin, tried to foster community involvement and empowerment, through finding an appropriate method to address and circumvent specific problems rather than through the use of philosophical abstractions.
West offers intriguing discussions of five thinkers who are not often grouped together, Dewey's student Sidney Hook, the sociologist C. Wright Mills, the African American scholar and activist W.E.B DuBois, the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and the literary critic Lionel Trilling, as he shows the different ways each of these thinkers took and modified some of the tenets of pragmatism in the middle-years of the 20th Century. I found West's exposition of these thinkers helpful even though I have serious doubts about West's philosophical direction.
West returns to contemporary American philosophy in his treatment of the works of Quine and Richard Rorty, and he all-too-briefly discusses the views of radical thinkers including Roberto Unger and Foucault.
Throughout the book, West argues for what he terms a prophetic pragmatism which continues the non-Cartesian character of the pragmatic project but informs it for West with a social analysis that recognizes the claims of those West claims are excluded from full participation in American democracy -- African Americans, women, the poor, to have their voices heard. West's position has strong components of Marxism and of radical theology in addition to pragmatism. To me, West does not explain how these theories fit together or their relationship to pragmatism. He also does little to persuade the reader about the value of Marxism or, for that matter, of the value of his form of theology but rather seems to thrust these teachings upon the reader. Very properly, West invokes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as his paradigmatic type of leader. As West points out, King was not a pragmatist, and the connection West sees between King and even a "prophetic pragmatism" remains undeveloped.
The main point that West makes in his discussion of American philosophy up to the time of Dewey -- that it was overly concerned with matters such as the relationship between science and religion and insufficiently attuned to social issues has been made by other writers in less polemical studies of American thought. Interested readers may want to consult Bruce Kucklick's "A History of Philosophy in America 1720-2000" and Louis Menand's famous book, "The Metaphysical Club", both of which share, in general terms, West's views of the virtues and possible shortcomings of pragmatism. For those wanting alternative but related views, there is a recent study of the idealist philosopher Josiah Royce by Frank Oppenheim, S.J., "Reverence for the Relations of Life." This book is written from a modern, idealistic perspective. Oppenheim focuses on the work of Peirce and Royce, rather than Dewey, and describes them in terms of "prophetic pragmatism" due to their openness to spirituality in human life and to the attempt in Royce's case, to argue for the creation of a "beloved community" -- the term later adopted by Martin Luther King as the benchmark for a just and humane society.
Robin Friedman
Cornel West has achieved public recognition as an intellectual activist, speaker, and writer on African-American studies and on black theology. He was one of a small number of University Professors -- those who are authorized to teach beyond Departmental boundaries -- at Harvard until 2001, when he took a position at Princeton. Although his PhD is in philosophy, West's philosophical studies are less well-known than is his social activism. But his early book, "The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism" (1989) is an impressive study of the history of a distinctly American movement in philosophy. The book covers a broad terrain, from philosophy to literary criticism to politics and social activism. The book includes much that is insightful in its exposition of major American thinkers, some material that is suggestive, and other material that may be provocative, if slapdash.
As the title suggests, a major theme of West's book is the manner in which American pragmatism "evades" philosophy. West argues that American philosophy does so by avoiding the Cartesian epistemological questions of representationalism (relationship between subject and object) that have been the bane of Western thought. West further argues that pragmatism "evades" philosophy by focusing on relations of social structure and power rather than mere intellectualizing. Finally, for West, pragmatism "evades" philosophy by focusing on the human subject, including particularly "constraints that reinforce and reproduce hierarchies based on class, race, gender, and sexual orientation." (p. 4)
West begins his study with an excellent discussion of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Many scholars have discussed the relationship between Emerson's transcendentalism and pragmatism. West gives a thoughtful analysis, focusing on Emerson's individualism, forward-looking vision and hope for a developing participatory American democracy. But West also sees Emerson as a representative of a modestly racist and hierarchical society bound too tightly, West argues, to middle-class American values and too little inclusive of women, African-Americans, immigrants, Indians, and other people.
West then proceeds through the early pragmatists, Charles Peirce and William James in treatments that are sympathetic but short. The philosopher that receives the greatest attention in the book is John Dewey with his instrumentalism and social and political concerns. James and Peirce had little direct to say about social issues, while Dewey, with his background in Hegel and in Darwin, tried to foster community involvement and empowerment, through finding an appropriate method to address and circumvent specific problems rather than through the use of philosophical abstractions.
West offers intriguing discussions of five thinkers who are not often grouped together, Dewey's student Sidney Hook, the sociologist C. Wright Mills, the African American scholar and activist W.E.B DuBois, the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and the literary critic Lionel Trilling, as he shows the different ways each of these thinkers took and modified some of the tenets of pragmatism in the middle-years of the 20th Century. I found West's exposition of these thinkers helpful even though I have serious doubts about West's philosophical direction.
West returns to contemporary American philosophy in his treatment of the works of Quine and Richard Rorty, and he all-too-briefly discusses the views of radical thinkers including Roberto Unger and Foucault.
Throughout the book, West argues for what he terms a prophetic pragmatism which continues the non-Cartesian character of the pragmatic project but informs it for West with a social analysis that recognizes the claims of those West claims are excluded from full participation in American democracy -- African Americans, women, the poor, to have their voices heard. West's position has strong components of Marxism and of radical theology in addition to pragmatism. To me, West does not explain how these theories fit together or their relationship to pragmatism. He also does little to persuade the reader about the value of Marxism or, for that matter, of the value of his form of theology but rather seems to thrust these teachings upon the reader. Very properly, West invokes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as his paradigmatic type of leader. As West points out, King was not a pragmatist, and the connection West sees between King and even a "prophetic pragmatism" remains undeveloped.
The main point that West makes in his discussion of American philosophy up to the time of Dewey -- that it was overly concerned with matters such as the relationship between science and religion and insufficiently attuned to social issues has been made by other writers in less polemical studies of American thought. Interested readers may want to consult Bruce Kucklick's "A History of Philosophy in America 1720-2000" and Louis Menand's famous book, "The Metaphysical Club", both of which share, in general terms, West's views of the virtues and possible shortcomings of pragmatism. For those wanting alternative but related views, there is a recent study of the idealist philosopher Josiah Royce by Frank Oppenheim, S.J., "Reverence for the Relations of Life." This book is written from a modern, idealistic perspective. Oppenheim focuses on the work of Peirce and Royce, rather than Dewey, and describes them in terms of "prophetic pragmatism" due to their openness to spirituality in human life and to the attempt in Royce's case, to argue for the creation of a "beloved community" -- the term later adopted by Martin Luther King as the benchmark for a just and humane society.
Robin Friedman
December 10, 2021
if you like this review I now have website: www.michaelkamakana.com
011015: this is exactly what it says, though the evasion is not so much of philosophy but of a type West calls 'epistemological', which seems to be mostly historical/continental. this also shows the limits of my reading: i have read one james The Varieties of Religious Experience, one dewey Art as Experience, one rorty Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity and one of those Pragmatism: A Guide for the Perplexed. this is not helpful reading the text. i have never read most of the authors, never read the key progenitor in emerson, never tangled with logical positivism or much wittgenstein, russell, carnap...
so the three is more my ignorance of this entire tradition. also reflects that i have trouble with the apparent religious foundations of all named, but my stance on that is in the review on james. there is some pomo, some foucault- what he seems to be missing, that particularly american idea: 'agency'-, some sense of history in that this is a historical document, from 1989, gives a reading of philosophers right back to 'cultural critic' emerson. i have no idea where the philosophical conversation is by now, on any of this. he does refer to heidegger, sartre, but no merleau-ponty... main trend seems to be, well, ‘pragmatic’, with lots of politics, though rorty sounds interesting...
011015: this is exactly what it says, though the evasion is not so much of philosophy but of a type West calls 'epistemological', which seems to be mostly historical/continental. this also shows the limits of my reading: i have read one james The Varieties of Religious Experience, one dewey Art as Experience, one rorty Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity and one of those Pragmatism: A Guide for the Perplexed. this is not helpful reading the text. i have never read most of the authors, never read the key progenitor in emerson, never tangled with logical positivism or much wittgenstein, russell, carnap...
so the three is more my ignorance of this entire tradition. also reflects that i have trouble with the apparent religious foundations of all named, but my stance on that is in the review on james. there is some pomo, some foucault- what he seems to be missing, that particularly american idea: 'agency'-, some sense of history in that this is a historical document, from 1989, gives a reading of philosophers right back to 'cultural critic' emerson. i have no idea where the philosophical conversation is by now, on any of this. he does refer to heidegger, sartre, but no merleau-ponty... main trend seems to be, well, ‘pragmatic’, with lots of politics, though rorty sounds interesting...
November 13, 2015
I really like the title - philosophical problems can't be solved, but there may be strategies to evade or avoid them.
In this book I thought West was perhaps too dismissive of epistemology. It's not like Descartes and Kant were just taking a piss. You can't simply reject their way of thinking like a false hypothesis. Philosophy is not a set of conclusions but the actual labor of thought. Even if the quest for foundations is ultimately futile, it's still necessary to re-enact it again for oneself.
Granted, this may be a side issue to the book itself. These days most of us know Cornel West as the public personality & cable TV talking head. It's easy to forget he was once Richard Rorty's philosophical heir apparent. This book almost reads like a leftist corrective to Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, but it lacks the weight and depth of its monumental precursor. While I tend to agree with West's politics more than Rorty's, I also don't think that's really the point. I want to respect the relative autonomy of philosophy, art, and literature. West is extremely erudite; he has a refined and subtle mind, but sometimes he writes intellectual history like he's passing out grades based on whether the participants were sufficiently political.
In this book I thought West was perhaps too dismissive of epistemology. It's not like Descartes and Kant were just taking a piss. You can't simply reject their way of thinking like a false hypothesis. Philosophy is not a set of conclusions but the actual labor of thought. Even if the quest for foundations is ultimately futile, it's still necessary to re-enact it again for oneself.
Granted, this may be a side issue to the book itself. These days most of us know Cornel West as the public personality & cable TV talking head. It's easy to forget he was once Richard Rorty's philosophical heir apparent. This book almost reads like a leftist corrective to Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, but it lacks the weight and depth of its monumental precursor. While I tend to agree with West's politics more than Rorty's, I also don't think that's really the point. I want to respect the relative autonomy of philosophy, art, and literature. West is extremely erudite; he has a refined and subtle mind, but sometimes he writes intellectual history like he's passing out grades based on whether the participants were sufficiently political.
February 8, 2014
The American Evasion of Philosophy is to pragmatism what Marvin Gaye’s hit song, “What’s Going On,” is to Motown: a divergence from mainstream practices in an attempt to engage pressing social issues. Traditional approaches to philosophy, according to West, offer limited value to society due to their preoccupation with epistemological questioning. In this work, West situates pragmatism as a response to philosophy’s overemphasis on epistemology. Specifically, he seeks “to chart the emergence, development, decline, and resurgence of American pragmatism” (p. 4). His genealogy should not be mistaken for an encyclopedia of pragmatic thought. With Ralph Waldo Emerson as his starting point, West explores the evolution of pragmatism through a montage of pragmatic thinkers from Charles S. Peirce to Richard Rorty. The montage provides context for West to explicate his central contribution to pragmatic thought: prophetic pragmatism (see chapter 6).
For the intimidated reader, this text is best understood in three units. The first unit consists of the introduction and first chapter. Here, West raises concerns with philosophy’s traditional focus on epistemology and he identifies pragmatism as an alternative to epistemological questioning. Furthermore, he prefigures pragmatism in the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson. West celebrates Emerson as an organic intellectual who rejected epistemological questioning, choosing to view knowledge “as instrumental effects of human will as it is guided by human interests, which are in turn produced by transactions with other humans and nature” (p. 36).
Chapters two through five are the meat and potatoes of his genealogy. He draws on the work of Charles S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey, Sidney Hook, C. Wright Mills, W. E. B. Du Bois, Reinhold Niebuhr, Lionel Trilling, W. V. Quine, and Richard Rorty. I found these chapters to be extremely helpful as West offered a critical perspective of each scholar’s contribution to pragmatic thought.
In the final section of the book, West outlines the key characteristics of prophetic pragmatism: “prophetic pragmatism attempts to keep alive the sense of alternative ways of life and of struggle based on the best of the past. In this sense, the praxis of prophetic pragmatism is tragic action with revolutionary intent, usually reformist consequences, and always visionary outlook” (p. 229).
Summary: The American Evasion of Philosophy is not for the faint of heart. For those familiar with West’s popular works, Race Matters and Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism, this book offers a different lens to understand his perspective. The American Evasion of Philosophy invites the reader to understand the conceptual and discursive foundations on which West’s framework rests. That is, this work represents the purest expression of the philosophy that motivates his scholarship and civic engagement. His more popular works serve as the manifestation of his prophetic pragmatic framework in addressing contemporary social issues. While it is a difficult read, I found it to be a worthwhile read. The best part of reading Cornel West is that I always discover areas of agreement and disagreement with his perspective. Even when disagreeing with him (which is often), he always forces me to think.
For the intimidated reader, this text is best understood in three units. The first unit consists of the introduction and first chapter. Here, West raises concerns with philosophy’s traditional focus on epistemology and he identifies pragmatism as an alternative to epistemological questioning. Furthermore, he prefigures pragmatism in the work of Ralph Waldo Emerson. West celebrates Emerson as an organic intellectual who rejected epistemological questioning, choosing to view knowledge “as instrumental effects of human will as it is guided by human interests, which are in turn produced by transactions with other humans and nature” (p. 36).
Chapters two through five are the meat and potatoes of his genealogy. He draws on the work of Charles S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey, Sidney Hook, C. Wright Mills, W. E. B. Du Bois, Reinhold Niebuhr, Lionel Trilling, W. V. Quine, and Richard Rorty. I found these chapters to be extremely helpful as West offered a critical perspective of each scholar’s contribution to pragmatic thought.
In the final section of the book, West outlines the key characteristics of prophetic pragmatism: “prophetic pragmatism attempts to keep alive the sense of alternative ways of life and of struggle based on the best of the past. In this sense, the praxis of prophetic pragmatism is tragic action with revolutionary intent, usually reformist consequences, and always visionary outlook” (p. 229).
Summary: The American Evasion of Philosophy is not for the faint of heart. For those familiar with West’s popular works, Race Matters and Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism, this book offers a different lens to understand his perspective. The American Evasion of Philosophy invites the reader to understand the conceptual and discursive foundations on which West’s framework rests. That is, this work represents the purest expression of the philosophy that motivates his scholarship and civic engagement. His more popular works serve as the manifestation of his prophetic pragmatic framework in addressing contemporary social issues. While it is a difficult read, I found it to be a worthwhile read. The best part of reading Cornel West is that I always discover areas of agreement and disagreement with his perspective. Even when disagreeing with him (which is often), he always forces me to think.
April 2, 2024
Been sitting on this one for a while, having read sections in anthologies but never read the entire work. Glad I finally did. West presents American pragmatism as a lineage beginning with Emerson, moving through Pierce and James, coming to full maturation in Dewey, being tempered by DuBois/Trilling, and reaching it's present point in Rorty and West's own "prophetic pragmatism."
While this is unquestionably a heterogenous lineage, what unifies them for West is "the evasion of epistemology-centered philosophy (Descartes, Kant, Foucault) resulting in a conception of philosophy as a form of cultural criticism in which the meaning of America is put forward by intellectuals in response to distinct social and cultural crises." Why and how does American pragmatism "evade" epistemology centered philosophy?
West on Emerson/evasion-"Emerson's alternative to modern philosophy was neither to replace it with a new philosophical problematic nor to deny it by means of a severe skepticism. Rather he evades modern philosophy, that is he ingeniously refuses: 1. its quest for certainty and hope for professional scientific respectability and 2. its search for foundations." American pragmatism instead turns philosophy toward cultural criticism to "expand powers and proliferate provocations for the moral development of human personalities."
West on Dewey/evasion- "Dewey's metaphilosophy is essentially an act of intellectual regicide; he wants to behead modern philosophy by dethroning epistemology." For West, Dewey fundamentally rejects to subjectivist turn of Descartes and the transcendental turn of Kant. For Dewey "the problem is not whether there is epistemic justification for the status or existence of an external world outside the veil of ideas, but rather how once goes about dealing and coping- less or more intelligently- with one's environment." For West, Dewey is a thinker who begins not with transcendental subjectivity but with intersubjectivity- the multiform interactions and problems of humans that live together.
Using this tradition of evasion- West develops what he terms "prophetic pragmatism." Prophetic pragmatism is an explicit political mode of cultural criticism that weaves together Emerson's provocation, Dewey's stress on historical consciousness, and DuBois' focus on the wretched of the earth all while reckoning with human fragility and finitude in it's candid recognition of the tragic dimensions of human existence. Two of the most interesting facets (to me) of West's project are 1. his utter methodological rejection of poststructuralism and Foucault; and 2. his use of Christianity (which recalls his work in Prophesy Deliverance and Prophetic Fragments).
1. On Foucault and poststructuralism- while West is undoubtedly sympathetic to Foucault's concerns and project (especially to his turn towards histories over and against History), West is more critical of Foucault here than anything else I've read and evinces a complete rejection of his methodology. West writes, "Prophetic pragmatism objects to Foucault's project not because he has no historical sense but rather because it remains truncated by the unhelpful Kantian question he starts with." For West, Foucault is trapped in in the Kantian question, "what are the conditions for the possibility of the constitution of a subject?" Even if the conditions given are historical, as they are for Foucault, for West the very form of the question must be rejected insofar as it is always inextricably tied to a conception of validity that stands above and outside of social practices. West also throughly rejects what he takes to be the utter failure of Foucault to "articulate and elaborate ideals of democracy, equality, and freedom...instead Foucault tends to reduce left ethics to a bold and defiant Great Refusal addressed to the powers that be." Which leads to 2.
2. West terms his pragmatism "prophetic" echoing the prophetic Jewish and Christian traditions but is clear that this is not a naive premodern religious outlook. West writes, "without the addition of modern interpretations of racial and gender equality, tolerance, and democracy, much of this tradition warrants rejection. Yet the Christian epic, stripped of its static dogmas and decrepit doctrines, remains a rich source of existential empowerment and political engagement when viewed through modern lenses." Remaining in this tradition allows West to connect, as an "organic intellectual" with the wretched of the earth- most of whom are people of religious faith looking for consolation. West finds a way to enable religious traditions to reexamine their legacies with critical treatment to act as progressive, rather than reactionary, forces for creative enhancement, resistance and innovation.
If you are interested in a uniquely American response to the problems of modern analytic philosophy (and even to the problems of continental and poststructuralist philosophy), I would definitely recommend this book! If you're just looking to get into Cornel I definitely would not recommend starting here- would probably recommend starting with Prophesy Deliverance and Race Matters/Democracy Matters.
While this is unquestionably a heterogenous lineage, what unifies them for West is "the evasion of epistemology-centered philosophy (Descartes, Kant, Foucault) resulting in a conception of philosophy as a form of cultural criticism in which the meaning of America is put forward by intellectuals in response to distinct social and cultural crises." Why and how does American pragmatism "evade" epistemology centered philosophy?
West on Emerson/evasion-"Emerson's alternative to modern philosophy was neither to replace it with a new philosophical problematic nor to deny it by means of a severe skepticism. Rather he evades modern philosophy, that is he ingeniously refuses: 1. its quest for certainty and hope for professional scientific respectability and 2. its search for foundations." American pragmatism instead turns philosophy toward cultural criticism to "expand powers and proliferate provocations for the moral development of human personalities."
West on Dewey/evasion- "Dewey's metaphilosophy is essentially an act of intellectual regicide; he wants to behead modern philosophy by dethroning epistemology." For West, Dewey fundamentally rejects to subjectivist turn of Descartes and the transcendental turn of Kant. For Dewey "the problem is not whether there is epistemic justification for the status or existence of an external world outside the veil of ideas, but rather how once goes about dealing and coping- less or more intelligently- with one's environment." For West, Dewey is a thinker who begins not with transcendental subjectivity but with intersubjectivity- the multiform interactions and problems of humans that live together.
Using this tradition of evasion- West develops what he terms "prophetic pragmatism." Prophetic pragmatism is an explicit political mode of cultural criticism that weaves together Emerson's provocation, Dewey's stress on historical consciousness, and DuBois' focus on the wretched of the earth all while reckoning with human fragility and finitude in it's candid recognition of the tragic dimensions of human existence. Two of the most interesting facets (to me) of West's project are 1. his utter methodological rejection of poststructuralism and Foucault; and 2. his use of Christianity (which recalls his work in Prophesy Deliverance and Prophetic Fragments).
1. On Foucault and poststructuralism- while West is undoubtedly sympathetic to Foucault's concerns and project (especially to his turn towards histories over and against History), West is more critical of Foucault here than anything else I've read and evinces a complete rejection of his methodology. West writes, "Prophetic pragmatism objects to Foucault's project not because he has no historical sense but rather because it remains truncated by the unhelpful Kantian question he starts with." For West, Foucault is trapped in in the Kantian question, "what are the conditions for the possibility of the constitution of a subject?" Even if the conditions given are historical, as they are for Foucault, for West the very form of the question must be rejected insofar as it is always inextricably tied to a conception of validity that stands above and outside of social practices. West also throughly rejects what he takes to be the utter failure of Foucault to "articulate and elaborate ideals of democracy, equality, and freedom...instead Foucault tends to reduce left ethics to a bold and defiant Great Refusal addressed to the powers that be." Which leads to 2.
2. West terms his pragmatism "prophetic" echoing the prophetic Jewish and Christian traditions but is clear that this is not a naive premodern religious outlook. West writes, "without the addition of modern interpretations of racial and gender equality, tolerance, and democracy, much of this tradition warrants rejection. Yet the Christian epic, stripped of its static dogmas and decrepit doctrines, remains a rich source of existential empowerment and political engagement when viewed through modern lenses." Remaining in this tradition allows West to connect, as an "organic intellectual" with the wretched of the earth- most of whom are people of religious faith looking for consolation. West finds a way to enable religious traditions to reexamine their legacies with critical treatment to act as progressive, rather than reactionary, forces for creative enhancement, resistance and innovation.
If you are interested in a uniquely American response to the problems of modern analytic philosophy (and even to the problems of continental and poststructuralist philosophy), I would definitely recommend this book! If you're just looking to get into Cornel I definitely would not recommend starting here- would probably recommend starting with Prophesy Deliverance and Race Matters/Democracy Matters.
May 14, 2020
I was very excited to read this survey by one of my favorite living philosophers, a deep dive into American intellectual history. What Cornel West calls the “evasion” of philosophy is, more specifically, the pragmatist evasion of the foundational preoccupations of philosophy centered in metaphysics and epistemology. Nevertheless, in spite of, or even because of that evasion the unique American philosophical tradition is one of great depth and sophistication. West analyzes, praises, and critiques the ideas of the most prominent American pragmatists, such as Pierce, James, Dewey, and Rorty, along with a foundational pragmatist precursor, Emerson.
March 2, 2020
"The fundamental argument of this book is that the evasion of epistemology-centered philosophy—from Emerson to Rorty— results in a conception of philosophy as a form of cultural criticism in which the meaning of America is put forward by intellectuals in response to distinct social and cultural crises. In this sense, American pragmatism is less a philosophical tradition putting forward solutions to perennial problems in the western philosophical conversation initiated by Plato and more a continuous cultural commentary or set of interpretations that attempts to explain America to itself at a particular historical moment."
April 17, 2020
West's scholarly examination of Emerson's ongoing contribution — good and bad — to American philosophical thought reinforced (and rooted!) my own predisposition to read philosophy from a utilitarian viewpoint. I especially enjoyed West's reflections on James, Du Bois, and Gramsci (and his succinct takedown of Foucault). Much of the latter sections of the book proved knotty for me since I'm hardly knowledgeable re: late 20th century philosophers but West is fairly accessible even when scrutinizing the unfamiliar and/or esoteric.
June 18, 2020
I learned so much from this book, and will continue to do so as I use it in class this autumn. West's writing can be a little opaque at times, but the argument is artfully constructed, and consistently carried throughout, as West executes what he also describes as the prime Emersonian legacy: empowerment through provocative engagement with one's forebears so as to authorize one's personal-political project.
April 24, 2017
Really liked Cornel West's spotlight on figures in the decline of pragmatism's influence. I knew very little about C. Wright Mills, Sidney Hook, or Lionel Trilling, especially in connection with pragmatism. Even Niebuhr and Du Bois I did not see in the light of pragmatism until West made the connections clear. This was definitely not the guide to pragmatism I was hoping, but it was other pleasant things I was not, and for that I am grateful.
April 13, 2024
Although America is backwards on this, it’s an important book for other countries to read if they want to know about America and its thinkers. There were in fact some great American philosophers. Seemingly the greater they were, the less you hear about them in the states. Nice to have a compact recovery of American philosophy here. A history that Cornel West has improved upon in many ways with his efforts. Later in his life he is realizing his academic and political limits as an American. He has already gone too far, and thank God for that!
While some of this book is dated, especially in reference to Emerson, it’s only more evident now how academia, like most institutions in late stage capitalism, has become too big, and unsustainable. Love to see when West changes his perspectives to fit the times we live in. He can give the politicians in academic clothing the goodbye and take his brilliance elsewhere. West continues to lead the fight for social justice, albeit an uphill battle, against the wind, both ways.
The Emersonian attitude has unfortunately died with the overgrowth of oligopolized academic funding sources. While Peirce may have been largely influenced by Emerson it’s mainly Peirce we are following here. Yes the guy no one has heard of et al. The American who actually did influence Deleuze who probably carries the torch of all philosophy. C.S Peirce’s logic based in the improvement of Hegelian negation and repetition has to be the greatest American contribution to philosophy and scientific logic in history.
While some of this book is dated, especially in reference to Emerson, it’s only more evident now how academia, like most institutions in late stage capitalism, has become too big, and unsustainable. Love to see when West changes his perspectives to fit the times we live in. He can give the politicians in academic clothing the goodbye and take his brilliance elsewhere. West continues to lead the fight for social justice, albeit an uphill battle, against the wind, both ways.
The Emersonian attitude has unfortunately died with the overgrowth of oligopolized academic funding sources. While Peirce may have been largely influenced by Emerson it’s mainly Peirce we are following here. Yes the guy no one has heard of et al. The American who actually did influence Deleuze who probably carries the torch of all philosophy. C.S Peirce’s logic based in the improvement of Hegelian negation and repetition has to be the greatest American contribution to philosophy and scientific logic in history.
December 28, 2022
American Philosophy Fall 2022. He gives a great lecture at Dartmouth on Du Bois and its on youtube and I really recommend watching it.
August 12, 2023
The chapter on Emerson is incredible.
July 21, 2022
West defines "the distinctive hallmarks of Prophetic Pragmatism" (what he views as an ideal modern form of an old philosophical tradition) as "a universal consciousness that promotes an all-embracing democratic and libertarian moral vision, a historical consciousness that acknowledges human finitude and conditionedness, and a critical consciousness which encourages relentless critique and self-criticism for the aims of social change and personal humility." (Pg. 232)
He spends most of this book outlining the history of the pragmatic movement, before making an argument for moving beyond it. His summaries are valuable, though convoluted for a layman like myself. I would recommend reading the introductory and conclusion chapters to get a sense of his ultimate end goal, before returning to the middle.
He spends most of this book outlining the history of the pragmatic movement, before making an argument for moving beyond it. His summaries are valuable, though convoluted for a layman like myself. I would recommend reading the introductory and conclusion chapters to get a sense of his ultimate end goal, before returning to the middle.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews