Robert B. Talisse

This timely anthology gathers forty historical and contemporary treatments of democracy. Short introductions precede each reading and a general introduction increases student comprehension across the spectrum of readings. This volume is ideal for both the undergraduate and graduate students in political theory and philosophy courses. Historical readings include selections from Plato, Aristotle, Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, Baruch Spinoza, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the US Founding Fathers, Alexis de Tocqueville, Karl Marx, Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, John Stuart Mill, W.E.B. Du Bois, John Dewey, and John Rawls. Contemporary readings include essays by Richard J. Arneson, Elizabeth Anderson, Sevla Benhabib, David Estlund, Jason Brennan, Julia Maskivker, Iris Marion Young, and Robert B. Talisse.

I aim to sketch a view of a methodology for metaphysics, suggested by Hookway's reading of C.S. Peirce, that allows one to hold realist metaphysical views. It is named for Peirce’s ‘Critical Commonsensism’, and uses pragmatic transcendental arguments to defend realism about non-optional basic commitments, e.g. inquiry and agency. It is critical because we are entitled to hope that the presuppositions of our most basic non-optional commitments obtain, and commonsensical because we begin with our current practices and proceed with anti-sceptical fallibilism. I consider a number of objections to the proposed methodology, including concerns associated with our identification of presuppositions, with the basic non-optional commitments they are presuppositions of, and the community who are so committed. These questions, I will claim, are open to empirical and anthropological investigation, but can begin with careful observation of human practices of agency and inquiry. I will defend the view we end up with as realist, against concerns it lacks the appropriate humility, and against the quietist position that one can make such presuppositions without engendering metaphysical commitments.

John Dewey’s writings contain the most comprehensive pragmatist engagement with political philosophy to date, yet they contain no sustained discussion of justice. This is curious, especially given Dewey’s social activism throughout his career. Contemporary pragmatists also tend to overlook justice. This is odd, given that the participatory model of democracy that most pragmatists favor is undermined where social injustice prevails: Social and economic disadvantage is empirically correlated with democratic disenfranchisement and nonparticipation. Accordingly, pragmatist democratic theory _needs_ a theory of justice. This chapter sketches the broad contours of the kind of theory of justice that pragmatists ought to develop. It then offers three diagnoses as to why justice has not been on the agenda of pragmatist political philosophy. In order to theorize justice, pragmatists must rethink some of their central commitments.

Political commentators across the spectrum point to polarization as the cause of dysfunctions that recently have beset democratic societies. But the concept of polarization is rarely examined. This chapter presents several distinct kinds of polarization, starting by distinguishing _political_ polarization from _belief_ polarization, and offers a view of how their interaction gives rise to political problems ranging from legislative deadlock and partisan animosity to escalating extremism. Although the aim of the chapter is largely diagnostic, it concludes with an indication of how polarization might be managed.

The Pragmatism Reader is the essential anthology of this important philosophical movement. Each selection featured here is a key writing by a leading pragmatist thinker, and represents a distinctively pragmatist approach to a core philosophical problem. The collection includes work by pragmatism's founders, Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey, as well as seminal writings by mid-twentieth-century pragmatists such as Sidney Hook, C. I. Lewis, Nelson Goodman, Rudolf Carnap, Wilfrid Sellars, and W.V.O. Quine. This reader also includes the most important work in contemporary pragmatism by philosophers like Susan Haack, Cornel West, Hilary Putnam, Richard Rorty, Cheryl Misak, and Robert Brandom. Each selection is a stand-alone piece--not an excerpt or book chapter--and each is presented fully unabridged. The Pragmatism Reader challenges the notion that pragmatism fell into a midcentury decline and was dormant until the advent of "neopragmatism" in the 1980s. This comprehensive anthology reveals a rich and highly influential tradition running unbroken through twentieth-century philosophy and continuing today. It shows how American pragmatist philosophers have contributed to leading philosophical debates about truth, meaning, knowledge, experience, belief, existence, justification, and freedom. Covers pragmatist philosophy from its origins to today Features key writings by the leading pragmatist thinkers Demonstrates the continuity and enduring influence of pragmatism Challenges prevailing notions about pragmatism Includes only stand-alone pieces, completely unabridged Reflects the full range of pragmatist themes, arguments, concerns, and commitments.

This paper defends a Peircean account truth in politics and ethics. It also sets out a novel epistemic conception of democracy. Roughly, if we are to aim at truth, we must take into account all the relevant experience and sustain the conditions under which prevailing arrangements may be contested, an idea which is aligned with democratic politics. Along the way, it identifies a mistake inspired by Dewey and one by Peirce and shows how these mistakes are manifest in contemporary political philosophy.

“This is what democracy looks like.” An internet search of that phrase returns thousands of images of people assembled in public to convey a common political sentiment. This makes good sense. Without active citizens, democracy devolves into rule by elites or worse. Public collective action is essential to democracy. Although the images are inspiring, they also present a problem. In addition to being politically active, democratic citizens must be reflective. Their political advocacy must be informed by the perspectives of their fellow citizens. The trouble is that indispensable modes of democratic participation can corrode citizens’ reflective capacities. The culprit is a dynamic called belief polarization. As we interact with our allies, we are exposed to forces that render us more radical in our beliefs and increasingly hostile to those who do not share them. What’s more, we are surrounded by triggers of political extremity and animosity. Thus, our ordinary activities encourage the attitude that democracy is possible only when everyone agrees. That’s a profoundly antidemocratic stance. Drawing on extensive research about polarization and partisanship, Robert Talisse argues that certain core democratic capacities can be cultivated only at a distance from the political fray. If we are to meet the responsibilities of democratic citizenship, we must occasionally step away from our allies and opponents alike. This can be achieved only in secluded settings where we can engage in civic reflection that is not prepackaged in the idiom of our political divides.

Luigino Bruni and Robert Sugden have provided a normative defense of markets from a virtue ethics perspective. They interpret market exchange as being a practice in the sense of Alasdair MacIntyre. For Bruni and Sugden, the telos of a market is mutual benefit and a market virtue is a character trait or disposition that contributes to the realization of this benefit. They regard market virtues as embodying a moral attitude towards market interactions that is characterized by reciprocity. For MacIntyre, this is a partial account of a virtue. To qualify as a virtue, it is also necessary that it contributes to the good of an individual’s life taken as a whole and to the social tradition in which both practices and individuals are embedded. We adopt MacIntye’s understanding of a virtue and consider the extent to which Bruni and Sugden’s account of market virtues is compatible with respecting the fundamental human good of dignity in Kant’s sense of this term.

In recent years there has been a renewed interest in American pragmatism. In political philosophy, the revival of pragmatism has led to a new appreciation for the democratic theory of John Dewey. In this book, Robert B. Talisse advances a series of _pragmatic_ arguments against Deweyan democracy. Particularly, Talisse argues that Deweyan democracy cannot adequately recognize _pluralism_, the fact that intelligent, sincere, and well-intentioned persons can disagree sharply and reasonably over moral ideals. Drawing upon the epistemology of the founder of pragmatism, Charles S. Peirce, Talisse develops a conception of democracy that is anti-Deweyan but nonetheless pragmatist. Talisse then brings the Peircean view into critical conversation with contemporary developments in democratic theory, including deliberative democracy, Rawlsian political liberalism, and Richard Posner’s democratic realism. The result is a new pragmatist option in democratic theory.

Democracies may be defined as civic arrangements wherein all citizens have equal political standing. The problem is that no real-world democracy has successfully achieved this arrangement. Are they really democracies, then? For that matter, are there any democracies at all? Aikin and Talisse propose that ‘democracy’ is an aspirational concept, one that holds those who strive to achieve particular ends to exceedingly high standards. This makes democracies intelligible as democracies in their collective aspirations, but it also makes their failures instructive parts of what they are as democracies.

The Pragmatism Reader is the essential anthology of this important philosophical movement. Each selection featured here is a key writing by a leading pragmatist thinker, and represents a distinctively pragmatist approach to a core philosophical problem. The collection includes work by pragmatism's founders, Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey, as well as seminal writings by mid-twentieth-century pragmatists such as Sidney Hook, C. I. Lewis, Nelson Goodman, Rudolf Carnap, Wilfrid Sellars, and W.V.O. Quine. This reader also includes the most important work in contemporary pragmatism by philosophers like Susan Haack, Cornel West, Hilary Putnam, Richard Rorty, Cheryl Misak, and Robert Brandom. Each selection is a stand-alone piece--not an excerpt or book chapter--and each is presented fully unabridged.The Pragmatism Reader challenges the notion that pragmatism fell into a midcentury decline and was dormant until the advent of "neopragmatism" in the 1980s. This comprehensive anthology reveals a rich and highly influential tradition running unbroken through twentieth-century philosophy and continuing today. It shows how American pragmatist philosophers have contributed to leading philosophical debates about truth, meaning, knowledge, experience, belief, existence, justification, and freedom. Covers pragmatist philosophy from its origins to today Features key writings by the leading pragmatist thinkers Demonstrates the continuity and enduring influence of pragmatism Challenges prevailing notions about pragmatism Includes only stand-alone pieces, completely unabridged Reflects the full range of pragmatist themes, arguments, concerns, and commitments.

Dialogues on Democracy offers a panoramic overview of recent and classical debates on the meaning of democracy as a philosophical ideal. It features some of the most central discussions that exist in the literature regarding its value, its purpose, and its (possible) flaws. Accessibly written and efficiently organized, the book is structured around a fictional conversation involving four participants: a teacher of philosophy and political theory and three of her most notable and dedicated students. Their dialogues capture the essence of some of the most powerful objections and counter objections to democracy and its institutions, allowing the reader to understand the origins and logic of much philosophical thinking concerned with political life. Maskivker provides succinct but highly informative arguments in defense of democracy while deftly addressing serious questions regarding its legitimacy coming from diverse corners of the ideological spectrum. The discussion addresses issues concerned with the justification and institutional plausibility of collective government, citizen equality, political representation, citizen action, civic virtue, and many other themes. Perfectly suited for a first introduction to the philosophical analysis of democracy, the book covers extensive ground in an instructive and dynamic way. In the book, Maskivker also offers her own novel insights regarding the value of democracy and its distinct interpretations-- a contribution that makes the book all the more interesting and complete.

The Routledge Companion to Pragmatism offers 44 cutting-edge chapters--written specifically for this volume by an international team of distinguished researchers--that assess the past, present, and future of pragmatism. Going beyond the exposition of canonical texts and figures, the collection presents pragmatism as a living philosophical idiom that continues to devise promising theses in contemporary debates. The chapters are organized into four major parts: Pragmatism's History and Figures Pragmatism and Plural Traditions Pragmatism's Reach Pragmatism's Relevance Each chapter provides up-to-date research tools for philosophers, students, and others who wish to locate pragmatist options in their contemporary research fields. As a whole, the volume demonstrates that the vitality of pragmatism lies in its ability to build upon, and transcend, the ideas and arguments of its founders. When seen in its full diversity, pragmatism emerges as one of the most successful and influential philosophical movements in Western philosophy.