This course is an introduction to American philosophy, focusing on the history and development of American philosophical thought in both its academic and larger social settings. The major figures and central problems will be surveyed historically, with a view to examining what, if anything, is distinctive to American thought and how American philosophy relates to its wider cultural context. First, we will briefly discuss some of the origins of American philosophy and read the Transcendentalist and political writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Frederick Douglass. We will then study classical Pragmatism and some contemporary responses to and versions of it, examining works by the philosophers William James, C. S. Pierce, John Dewey, Richard Bernstein, Richard Shusterman, Paul C. Taylor, and Joe Margolis. Along the way, we will also read works by the important American thinkers Jane Addams, W. E. B. Du Bois, and Alain Locke, keeping in mind their historical and cultural contexts and their relationships to other major figures. Though this list is far from exhaustive, I hope to incite thought and discussion about the impact and relevance that the ideas of these people have had in the past and have today.

Required Text:

John Stuhr, ed., Pragmatism and Classical American Philosophy 2^nd Edition (Oxford University Press, 2000), list price $59.95 (available cheaper online and used) ISBN-10: 0195118308. Readings not in the book will be handed out in class or available online.