A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135196400
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (351 download)

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Book Synopsis A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy by : Robert B. Talisse

Download or read book A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy written by Robert B. Talisse and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-08-21 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1135196478
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (351 download)

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Book Synopsis A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy by : Robert B. Talisse

Download or read book A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy written by Robert B. Talisse and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-08-21 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Pragmatism, Democracy, and the Necessity of Rhetoric

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Author :
Publisher : Univ of South Carolina Press
ISBN 13 : 9781570036903
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (369 download)

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Book Synopsis Pragmatism, Democracy, and the Necessity of Rhetoric by : Robert Danisch

Download or read book Pragmatism, Democracy, and the Necessity of Rhetoric written by Robert Danisch and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Pragmatism, Democracy, and the Necessity of Rhetoric, Robert Danisch examines the search by America's first generation of pragmatists for a unique set of rhetorics that would serve the needs of a developing democracy. Digging deep into pragmatism's historical development, Danisch sheds light on its association with an alternative but significant and often overlooked tradition. He draws parallels between the rhetorics of such American pragmatists as John Dewey and Jane Addams and those of the ancient Greek tradition. Danisch contends that, while building upon a classical foundation, pragmatism sought to determine rhetorical responses to contemporary irresolutions. rhetoric, including pragmatism's rejection of philosophy with its traditional assumptions and practices. Grounding his argument on an

Pragmatic Fashions

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Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253018978
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (53 download)

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Book Synopsis Pragmatic Fashions by : John J. Stuhr

Download or read book Pragmatic Fashions written by John J. Stuhr and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-10 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John J. Stuhr, a leading voice in American philosophy, sets forth a view of pragmatism as a personal work of art or fashion. Stuhr develops his pragmatism by putting pluralism forward, setting aside absolutism and nihilism, opening new perspectives on democracy, and focusing on love. He creates a space for a philosophy that is liable to failure and that is experimental, pluralist, relativist, radically empirical, radically democratic, and absurd. Full color illustrations enhance this lyrical commitment to a new version of pragmatism.

Pragmatist Governance

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199772436
Total Pages : 294 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (997 download)

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Book Synopsis Pragmatist Governance by : Christopher Ansell

Download or read book Pragmatist Governance written by Christopher Ansell and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-29 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The philosophy of pragmatism advances an evolutionary, learning-oriented perspective that is problem-driven, reflexive, and deliberative.

Pragmatism and the Wide View of Democracy

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Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3030185613
Total Pages : 427 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (31 download)

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Book Synopsis Pragmatism and the Wide View of Democracy by : Roberto Frega

Download or read book Pragmatism and the Wide View of Democracy written by Roberto Frega and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-06-22 with total page 427 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aim of this book is to provide a fresh, wider, and more compelling account of democracy than the one we usually find in conventional contemporary political theory. Telling the story of democracy as a broad societal project rather than as merely a political regime, Frega delivers an account more in tune with our everyday experience and ordinary intuitions, bringing back into political theory the notion that democracy denotes first and foremost a form of society, and only secondarily a specific political regime. The theoretical shift accomplished is major. Claiming that such a view of democracy is capable of replacing the mainstream categories of justice, freedom and non-domination in their hegemonic function of all-encompassing political concepts, Frega then argues for democracy as the broader normative framework within which to rethink the meaning and forms of associated living in all spheres of personal, social, economic, and political life. Drawing on diverse traditions of American pragmatism and critical theory, as well as tackling political issues which are at the core of contemporary theoretical debates, this book invites a rethinking of political theory to one more concerned with the political circumstances of social life, rather than remaining confined in the narrowly circumscribed space of a theory of government.

Knowing Democracy – A Pragmatist Account of the Epistemic Dimension in Democratic Politics

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Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030532585
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (35 download)

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Book Synopsis Knowing Democracy – A Pragmatist Account of the Epistemic Dimension in Democratic Politics by : Michael I. Räber

Download or read book Knowing Democracy – A Pragmatist Account of the Epistemic Dimension in Democratic Politics written by Michael I. Räber and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can we justify democracy’s trust in the political judgments of ordinary people? In Knowing Democracy, Michael Räber situates this question between two dominant alternative paradigms of thinking about the reflective qualities of democratic life: on the one hand, recent epistemic theories of democracy, which are based on the assumption that political participation promotes truth, and, on the other hand, theories of political judgment that are indebted to Hannah Arendt’s aesthetic conception of political judgment. By foregrounding the concept of political judgment in democracies, the book shows that a democratic theory of political judgments based on John Dewey’s pragmatism can navigate the shortcomings of both these paradigms. While epistemic theories are overly and narrowly rationalistic and Arendtian theories are overly aesthetic, the neo-Deweyan conception of political judgment proposed in this book suggests a third path that combines the rationalist and the aesthetic elements of political conduct in a way that goes beyond a merely epistemic or a merely aesthetic conception of political judgment in democracy. The justification for democracy’s trust in ordinary people’s political judgments, Räber argues, resides in an egalitarian conception of democratic inquiry that blends the epistemic and the aesthetic aspects of the making of political judgments. By offering a rigorous scholarly analysis of the epistemic and aesthetic foundations of democracy from a pragmatist perspective, Knowing Democracy contributes to the current debates in political epistemology and aesthetics and politics, both of which ask about the appropriate reflective and experiential circumstances of democratic politics. The book brings together for the first time debates on epistemic democracy, aesthetic judgment and those on pragmatist social epistemology, and establishes an original pragmatist conception of epistemic democracy.

The Priority of Democracy

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Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400840333
Total Pages : 343 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (8 download)

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Book Synopsis The Priority of Democracy by : Jack Knight

Download or read book The Priority of Democracy written by Jack Knight and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-22 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why democracy is the best way of deciding how decisions should be made Pragmatism and its consequences are central issues in American politics today, yet scholars rarely examine in detail the relationship between pragmatism and politics. In The Priority of Democracy, Jack Knight and James Johnson systematically explore the subject and make a strong case for adopting a pragmatist approach to democratic politics—and for giving priority to democracy in the process of selecting and reforming political institutions. What is the primary value of democracy? When should we make decisions democratically and when should we rely on markets? And when should we accept the decisions of unelected officials, such as judges or bureaucrats? Knight and Johnson explore how a commitment to pragmatism should affect our answers to such important questions. They conclude that democracy is a good way of determining how these kinds of decisions should be made—even if what the democratic process determines is that not all decisions should be made democratically. So, for example, the democratically elected U.S. Congress may legitimately remove monetary policy from democratic decision-making by putting it under the control of the Federal Reserve. Knight and Johnson argue that pragmatism offers an original and compelling justification of democracy in terms of the unique contributions democratic institutions can make to processes of institutional choice. This focus highlights the important role that democracy plays, not in achieving consensus or commonality, but rather in addressing conflicts. Indeed, Knight and Johnson suggest that democratic politics is perhaps best seen less as a way of reaching consensus or agreement than as a way of structuring the terms of persistent disagreement.

Confucian Democracy

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Publisher : State University of New York Press
ISBN 13 : 0791486087
Total Pages : 269 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (914 download)

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Book Synopsis Confucian Democracy by : Sor-hoon Tan

Download or read book Confucian Democracy written by Sor-hoon Tan and published by State University of New York Press. This book was released on 2012-02-01 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using both Confucian texts and the work of American pragmatist John Dewey, this book offers a distinctly Confucian model of democracy.

Democratic Hope

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Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 1501702068
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis Democratic Hope by : Robert B. Westbrook

Download or read book Democratic Hope written by Robert B. Westbrook and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-27 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The pragmatists' response to the claim that theirs is a deeply American philosophy has been less to challenge the claim than to attempt to embrace it on their own terms. . . . One could speak of a national philosophy as one could not speak of a national chemistry or physics. But national cultures were complicated and often conflicted. Hence the relationship between a philosophy and a national culture could be at once close and fraught with tension."—from Democratic Hope Pragmatism, as Richard Rorty has said, "names the chief glory of our country's intellectual tradition." In Democratic Hope, Robert B. Westbrook examines the varieties of classical pragmatist thought in the work of John Dewey, William James, and Charles Peirce, testing in good pragmatic fashion the truth of propositions by their consequences in experience. Westbrook also attends to the recent revival of pragmatism by Rorty, Cheryl Misak, Richard Posner, Hilary Putnam, Cornel West, and others and to pragmatist strains in contemporary American political thinking. Westbrook's aims are both historical and political: to ensure that the genealogy of pragmatism is an honest one and to argue for a hopeful vision of deliberative democracy underwritten by a pragmatist epistemology and ethics.

Law, Pragmatism, and Democracy

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Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780674042292
Total Pages : 428 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (422 download)

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Book Synopsis Law, Pragmatism, and Democracy by : Richard A. Posner

Download or read book Law, Pragmatism, and Democracy written by Richard A. Posner and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A liberal state is a representative democracy constrained by the rule of law. Richard Posner argues for a conception of the liberal state based on pragmatic theories of government. He views the actions of elected officials as guided by interests rather than by reason and the decisions of judges by discretion rather than by rules. He emphasizes the institutional and material, rather than moral and deliberative, factors in democratic decision making. Posner argues that democracy is best viewed as a competition for power by means of regular elections. Citizens should not be expected to play a significant role in making complex public policy regarding, say, taxes or missile defense. The great advantage of democracy is not that it is the rule of the wise or the good but that it enables stability and orderly succession in government and limits the tendency of rulers to enrich or empower themselves to the disadvantage of the public. Posner’s theory steers between political theorists’ concept of deliberative democracy on the left and economists’ public-choice theory on the right. It makes a significant contribution to the theory of democracy—and to the theory of law as well, by showing that the principles that inform Schumpeterian democratic theory also inform the theory and practice of adjudication. The book argues for law and democracy as twin halves of a pragmatic theory of American government.

The Chicago Pragmatists and American Progressivism

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Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 150172147X
Total Pages : 296 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis The Chicago Pragmatists and American Progressivism by : Andrew Feffer

Download or read book The Chicago Pragmatists and American Progressivism written by Andrew Feffer and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2018-10-18 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Founded in 1894 at a peak of social and industrial turmoil, the Chicago school of pragmatist philosophy is emblematic of the progressive spirit of early twentieth-century America. The Chicago pragmatists under the leadership of John Dewey pursued a close critique of the modern workplace, school, and neighborhood which provided a theoretical base for the progressive reform agenda. Andrew Feffer here provides a richly textured group portrait of Dewey and his colleagues George Herbert Mead and James Hayden Tufts against the backdrop of Chicago's social history. In this nuanced intellectual biography of the Chicago pragmatists, Feffer retraces the story of their personal involvement in reform movements and examines how they revised contemporary political rhetoric and social theory in order to reestablish the foundations of democracy in productive and rewarding work. Drawing on liberal Christian reformist as well as philosophical idealist traditions, the pragmatists advanced a radically humanistic social theory that attacked the regimentation of factory life and demanded the democratization of industry and education. Feffer also gives an account of certain elitist and anti-democratic assumptions of pragmatist theory; he shows, in particular, how progressive reformers inherited the pragmatists' mistrust of the political impulses of the industrial workers they championed.

Pragmatism and Social Hope

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Publisher : Columbia University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780231518222
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (182 download)

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Book Synopsis Pragmatism and Social Hope by : Judith M. Green

Download or read book Pragmatism and Social Hope written by Judith M. Green and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2008-11-20 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 9/11, citizens of all nations have been searching for a democratic public philosophy that provides practical and inspiring answers to the problems of the twenty-first century. Drawing on the wisdom of past and present pragmatist thinkers, Judith M. Green maps a contemporary form of citizenship that emphasizes participation and cooperation and reclaims the critical role of social movements and nongovernmental organizations. Starting with empowering processes of storytelling, truth and reconciliation, and collaborative vision-questing that allow individuals to give voice and new meaning to their loss, anxiety, and hope, Green frames cooperative inquiries to guide transformative actions. From this "second strand" of the democratic experience, leaders and participating citizens can help to shape a more desirable democratic future. In dialogue with Richard Rorty, Judith Butler, James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr., Elie Wiesel, Viktor Frankl, Cornel West, and other contemporary thinkers, Green defines the need for deeper understanding and fulfillment of the potentials of the democratic ideal. Drawing insights from Thomas Jefferson, Walt Whitman, William James, John Dewey, Jane Adams, and other earlier thinkers, Green frames a pragmatist understanding of emerging realities and possibilities, growing wells of shared truths, multifaceted histories, and mutually transformative experiences of citizenship. Employing examples from America's complex history and from recent world events, Green locates four sites for effective citizen activism: government at all levels, nonprofit organizations, issue-focused campaigns and social movements, and daily urban living. Green shows how citizens can revive social hope and deepen the democratic experience by drawing on their own knowledge and developing their capabilities through inclusive civic participation.

Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Nature of Philosophy

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351811312
Total Pages : 265 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (518 download)

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Book Synopsis Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Nature of Philosophy by : Scott F. Aikin

Download or read book Pragmatism, Pluralism, and the Nature of Philosophy written by Scott F. Aikin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-10-30 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For the past fifteen years, Aikin and Talisse have been working collaboratively on a new vision of American pragmatism, one which sees pragmatism as a living and developing philosophical idiom that originates in the work of the "classical" pragmatisms of Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey, uninterruptedly develops through the later 20th Century pragmatists (C. I. Lewis, Wilfrid Sellars, Nelson Goodman, W. V. O. Quine), and continues through the present day. According to Aikin and Talisse, pragmatism is fundamentally a metaphilosophical proposal – a methodological suggestion for carrying inquiry forward amidst ongoing deep disagreement over the aims, limitations, and possibilities of philosophy. This conception of pragmatism not only runs contrary to the dominant self-understanding among cotemporary philosophers who identify with the classical pragmatists, it also holds important implications for pragmatist philosophy. In particular, Aikin and Talisse show that their version of pragmatism involves distinctive claims about epistemic justification, moral disagreement, democratic citizenship, and the conduct of inquiry. The chapters combine detailed engagements with the history and development of pragmatism with original argumentation aimed at a philosophical audience beyond pragmatism.

American Pragmatism and Democratic Faith

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis American Pragmatism and Democratic Faith by : Robert J. Lacey

Download or read book American Pragmatism and Democratic Faith written by Robert J. Lacey and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In June 1962, a group calling themselves the Students for a Democratic Society gathered at a retreat in rural Michigan to discuss and revise their founding manifesto. The result of that meeting was the famous Port Huron Statement, a document that not only reflected their disenchantment with America's elite-controlled social and political institutions but also called for the creation of a "participatory democracy" in which all citizens engage in public life and share the responsibility of political decision making. This demand for participatory democracy characterized the New Left ethos and captured the imagination of a generation of radicals and political activists from the late 1950s to the close of the 1960s. So, why did participatory democracy fail to materialize in any recognizable form? Why was it forced to retreat from mainstream public discourse into the academy? Its fate, political scientist Robert Lacey asserts, was determined in large part by its intellectual origins. The idea of participatory democracy germinated in the philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, founders of American pragmatism, and fully blossomed in the work of John Dewey, who argued that democracy should (and could) be a "way of life" for every person. Dewey rested his democratic faith on three pragmatist tenets: truth is probabilistic and socially determined; humans are malleable and educable; and humans, endowed with free will, can act collectively for their individual and social betterment. When the realities of modern life in the mid- to late-twentieth century posed serious challenges to these tenets, the very foundation of participatory democratic thought began to crumble. Yet, willfully disregarding the rubble, C. Wright Mills, Sheldon Wolin, Benjamin Barber, and other theorists have continued to support participatory democracy as a viable political idea. Today's participatory democrats have constructed a fragile theoretical enterprise that rests on questionable assumptions inherited from the pragmatist tradition about truth, human nature, and free will. Tracing the history of a salient idea in American political thought, Lacey elucidates the assumptions underlying participatory democracy, assesses both its usefulness and coherence, and ultimately reveals it to be less a theory than a faith--a faith that has largely failed to follow through on its promise.

Pragmatism and Democracy

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351497227
Total Pages : 412 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (514 download)

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Book Synopsis Pragmatism and Democracy by : Dmitri N. Shalin

Download or read book Pragmatism and Democracy written by Dmitri N. Shalin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-09-08 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume examines the roots of pragmatist imagination and traces the influence of American pragmatism in diverse areas of politics, law, sociology, political science, and transitional studies. The work explores the interfaces between the Progressive movement in politics and American pragmatism. Shalin shows how early 20th century progressivism influenced pragmatism's philosophical agenda and how pragmatists helped articulate a theory of progressive reform. The work addresses pragmatism and interactionist sociology and illuminates the cross-fertilization between these two fields of studies. Special emphasis is placed on the interactionists' search for a logic of inquiry sensitive to the objective indeterminacy of the situation. The challenge that contemporary interactionist studies face is to illuminate the issues of power and inequality central to the political commitments of pragmatist philosophers. Shalin explores the vital link between democracy, civility, and affect. His central thesis is that democracy is an embodied process that binds affectively as well as rhetorically and that flourishes in places where civic discourse is an end in itself, a source of vitality and social creativity sustaining a democratic community. The author shows why civic discourse is hobbled by the civic body that has been misshapen by past abuses. Drawing on the studies of the civilizing process, Shalin speculates about the emotion, demeanor, and body language of democracy and explores from this angle the prospects for democratic transformation in countries struggling to shake their totalitarian past. View Table of Contents

Legal Pragmatism

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Publisher : Indiana University Press
ISBN 13 : 0253116988
Total Pages : 178 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (531 download)

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Book Synopsis Legal Pragmatism by : Michael Sullivan

Download or read book Legal Pragmatism written by Michael Sullivan and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2007-06-14 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Legal Pragmatism, Michael Sullivan looks closely at the place of the individual and community in democratic society. After mapping out a brief history of American legal thinking regarding rights, from communitarianism to liberalism, Sullivan gives a rich and nuanced account of how pragmatism worked to resolve conflicts of self-interest and community well-being. Sullivan's view of pragmatism provides a comprehensive framework for understanding democracy, as well as issues such as health care, education, gay marriage, and illegal immigration that will determine its character in the future. Legal Pragmatism is a bold, carefully argued book that presents a unique understanding of contemporary society, law, and politics.