This book examines points of meaningful affinity as well as contention and misrecognition between philosophical traditions of the Americas. Using Rodó’s metaphors from The Tempest, it reflects on the perils and possibilities for Inter-American philosophy as an established historical fact, a form of propaganda, or as a legitimate aspiration.
A new perspective on spirituality and social change as seen through the work of six visionary thinkers In Liberating Spiritualities, Christopher D. Tirres offers an in-depth exploration of spirituality as a catalyst for social transformation, showcasing the profound insights of six distinguished twentieth-century liberation thinkers from across the Américas. This thought-provoking work examines the contributions of Marxist philosopher José Carlos Mariátegui, renowned educator and philosopher Paulo Freire, innovative constructive theologian Virgilio Elizondo, influential cultural and feminist theorist Gloria Anzaldúa, activist mujerista theologian and social ethicist Ada María Isasi-Díaz, and groundbreaking ecofeminist theologian Ivone Gebara. Tirres examines the distinct yet interconnected philosophies of these figures, showcasing their unified critique of colonial Christendom and their deep commitment to the marginalized. He adeptly articulates how their diverse religious and philosophical backgrounds come together in a shared vision of spirituality as a fundamental aspect of human life and intelligence. He further illuminates how these thinkers advocate for spirituality as a non-reductive, life-affirming practice, transcending traditional boundaries and offering an integrated approach to faith, culture, and social justice. Their collective insights form a persuasive case for re-envisioning spirituality as a crucial element in the quest for a more just and compassionate world. Liberating Spiritualities is not only a tribute to these six influential figures but also a critical reflection on the relevance of their ideas in today’s global context. Tirres’s transdisciplinary study bridges liberationist and pragmatic insights, offering readers a fresh, highly original interpretation of socially engaged spirituality, making this book an essential resource for those seeking to understand the transformative power of spirituality in the pursuit of social justice and human dignity.
The essays in Pragmatist and American Philosophical Perspectives on Resilience offer a survey of the ways that “resilience” is becoming a key concept for understanding our world, as well as providing deeper insight about its specific actual and proposed applications. As a concept with multiple theoretical and practical meanings, “resilience” promises considerable explanatory power. At the same time, current uses of the concept can be diverse and at times inconsistent. The American philosophical tradition provides tools uniquely suited for clarifying, extending, and applying emerging concepts in more effective and suggestive ways. This collection explores the usefulness of theoretical work in American philosophy and pragmatism to practices in ecology, community, rurality, and psychology.
Habits of Whiteness: A Pragmatist Reconstruction, second edition, offers a revised and updated look at the concept of whiteness in the United States. Lauded when it was first published and even more relevant today, Habits of Whiteness offers a distinctive way to talk about race and racism by focusing on racial habits and how to change them. Author Terrance MacMullan examines how the concept of racial whiteness has undermined attempts to create a truly democratic society in the United States. By getting to the core of the racism that lives on in unrecognized habits, MacMullan argues that it is possible for white people to recognize the distance between their color-blind ideals and their actual behavior. Revitalizing the work of W. E. B. Du Bois and John Dewey, MacMullan demonstrates how it is possible to reconstruct racial habits and close fissures between people. This second edition of Habits of Whiteness also contains a new introduction, which looks closely at race relations during the Obama and Trump presidencies, including such recent challenges as police brutality in 2020, white supremacy, and the Capitol insurrection. Its persuasive analysis of the impulses of whiteness ultimately reorganizes them into something more compatible with our country's increasingly multicultural heritage.
Prophetic pragmatism is a gritty philosophical framework that undergirds the intellectual and political work done by those who seek to overcome despair, dogmatism, and oppression. It seeks to unite one’s intellectual vocation and one’s duty to fight for justice. Cognizant of the ways in which political forces affect thought, while also requiring political action to not be so sure of itself that it simply replaces one oppressive structure with another, prophetic pragmatism requires a critical temper through the mode of Socratic questioning. Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism argues that hope lies between critical temper and democratic faith. Socratic questioning, prophetic witness, and tragicomic hope open a space for democratic energies to flourish against the forces of nihilism and poverty. Critical temper keeps democratic faith from becoming too idealistic and Pollyannaish, and democratic faith keeps critical temper from being pessimistic about the ability to change current realities. These twin pillars provide the best and most helpful framework for understanding the nature and purpose of prophetic pragmatism. Through their dialogue, Jacob L. Goodson and Brad Elliott demonstrate why prophetic pragmatism is, in the words of Cornel West, “pragmatism at its best.”
This provocative book examines the teachings of political theorist Leo Strauss and the ways in which they have been appropriated, or misappropriated, by senior policymakers.
A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.
Since C. S. Pierce advocated a pragmatic approach to truth and knowledge, it has been one of the characteristic themes of American philosophy. This book examines how pragmatism's central ideas can be applied and implemented across the entire domain of philosophical deliberations, ranging from theory of knowledge and the value theory to providing explanations for human actions, and even to matters of ethics and religion. While there are various ways in which to weigh the merit of a philosophical idea or theory, this book makes the case that an assessment of that theory’s applicative utility is of the essence. The intersection of the theoretical and the practical is where meaningful philosophizing finds its legs, and Rescher’s unique pragmatically oriented analyses of traditional philosophical us to regard some historically prominent philosophical ideas in a new and revealing light.
Charles Sanders Peirce complained that William James allowed pragmatism to become infected with seeds of death like the idea that truth is mutable. This volume aims to defend James's pragmatic theory from a range of critics including Peirce, Bertrand Russell, Hilary Putnam, and Cornel West.
