In the first
part of the
course we sill
situate pragmatism
in the history
of philosophy.
Is it an American
phenomenon?
What does it
mean to call
a philosophy
American, or
African-American
or European
or African?
We will look
for intimations
of pragmatism
in earlier
European, Asian,
and African
philosophies
with an interest
in seeing why
pragmatism
finally separated
itself from
other practices
in philosophy
to become a
distinctive
collection
of methods
and interests
in the United
States of the
20th century.
The second
part will focus
briefly on
classical pragmatism.
We will consider
issues raised
in several
essays by Peirce,
James’ Varieties
of Religious
Experience,
and Dewey’s
Reconstruction
in Philosophy
and Human Nature
and Conduct.
The third
part will focus
on African-American
uses of pragmatism
in Du Bois’ The
Education of
Black People
and in a number
of Alain Locke’s
essays, particularly “Values
and Imperatives.”
The fourth
part will compare
Locke’s
philosophy
of critical
relativism
to J.M. Balkin’s
attempts to
establish a
system of transcendent
values in his
Cultural Software.
The final
part will contrast
Locke and Du
Bois’ pragmatic
internationalism
with Richard
Rorty and Stanley
Fish’s
articulations
of a concept
of “solidarity.”
