Pragmatism's constructive project

Philip Kitcher

pp. 176-189

in: Judith M. Green (ed), Richard J. Bernstein and the pragmatist turn in contemporary philosophy, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014

Abstract

Among the many strengths of The Pragmatic Turn are Richard Bernstein's understanding of and sympathy with a large number of voices within the broad pragmatist tradition, his ability to set those voices in conver- sation with one another, and his keen ear for the moments at which they start to bluster or to mumble or simply to dry up altogether. Those strengths are evident in the chapter devoted to examining Hilary Putnam's neopragmatism. Quite rightly, Bernstein begins by recog- nizing the extraordinary contributions Putnam has made over many decades (and, on some interpretations of his work, in many phases). The pragmatist themes articulated and developed in his writings during the past 20 years can reasonably be understood as extending ideas and arguments that were broached quite early in Putnam's career, as if his careful studies of the classical pragmatists had provided a context in which insights he had half-formulated could be more fully developed. Bernstein's chapter helps us to recognize this continuity.

Cited authors

Putnam Hilary

Bernstein Richard