The Ideal and the Real : Studies in Pragmatism

The current volume provides an interpretation of American pragmatism according to which pragmatism is not opposed to metaphysics but instead represents a vital, non-dismissive, non-deflationary attempt to respond to classical questions of philosophy concerning the nature of reality, truth, goodness, beauty, ideality, etc.American pragmatism has been often interpreted as a form of crass utilitarianism applied to all areas of philosophy – a precipitation of the “industrialist” spirit of the United States.This book demonstrates how such an interpretation is misguided.The chapters focus on different topics in the philosophies of Peirce and Dewey – what is ‘meaning,’ what is the human self, what is truth, what is consciousness, what ‘semiotics’ can add to realism – that articulate the unitary view that the ‘real’ is always inhabited by and open to the ‘ideal.’