Sometimes the review in Amazon offer some insight.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374528497/ref=s9_simh_se_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=auto-no-results-center-1&pf_rd_r=0N7RNREV73NQWY3MKG32&pf_rd_t=301&pf_rd_p=1263465782&pf_rd_i=he%20Metaphysical%20Club%3A%20A%20Story%20of%20Ideas%20in%20America%20 On Sep 26, 2010, at 2:00 PM, david buchanan wrote: > > As a matter of fact, I just finished "The Metaphysical Club". I thought it > was pretty weak, actually. Don't think I've ever read a more disappointing > secondary source on pragmatism. Somehow, it was like hearing a bad > impersonation of Rorty. The author seemed to hit every note that Rorty hits, > as if following a playbook. But the biographical stuff is what interested me > anyway. As you may have noticed, I've also been reading Robert Richardson's > biography of James. It's far more substantial. Richardson not only read > everything James ever wrote, including private letters, he also read > everything James read. Richardson rocks. > > One thing I learned from "The Metaphysical Club" was that free speech rights > didn't become what they are today until about 1925 and this came about - in > part - because of the club. It's that many cognizers idea again. Oliver > Wendell Holmes served on the supreme court and he had a legal version of this > view even back in the 1870's. John Dewey would later go on to help found the > ACLU and the NAACP. My point simply being that pragmatism has been good for > democracy and liberalism. > > > >> Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 09:36:46 -0700 >> From: [email protected] >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: Re: [MD] william James. >> >> That does sound fascinating Marsha. I always like to be shown books that >> deal with what I'm thinking and discussing, and if I do so say, this book >> suggestion you share seems to point to us - the MoQ Discuss- and our little >> "metaphysical club" and our discussions. >> >> Pat on the backs all around for us being so "cutting edge". >> >> woo-hoo! >> >> John >> >> On Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 11:28 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> >>> Here might be a book worth reading, 'The Metaphysical Club: A Story of >>> Ideas in America': >>> >>> >>> It’s the liberal belief that there are no absolutes and no Truth. That’s >>> why relativism is the central idea of today’s “culture war.” >>> >>> They say there are only our own personal “values” that reflect our >>> interests, prejudices, and desires. >>> >>> This idea seemed to explode onto the American scene in the 1960s, with the >>> moral code, “If it feels good, do it.” But its roots lie farther back in >>> American history. >>> >>> After the Civil War, American philosophers (centered at Harvard) began to >>> build the intellectual and moral system that produced the Clinton/Baby >>> Boomer ethos, the kind that is never “judgmental” and disputes the meaning >>> of the word “is.” >>> >>> The abandonment of both religious and philosophical absolutes was a >>> worldwide phenomenon. The American style of relativism came to be called >>> “pragmatism.” >>> >>> >>> >>> http://www.massnews.com/2002_editions/03_Mar/302harvard.htm >>> >>> >>> ___ >>> >>> >>> Moq_Discuss mailing list >>> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >>> Archives: >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >>> http://moq.org/md/archives.html >>> >> Moq_Discuss mailing list >> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >> Archives: >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >> http://moq.org/md/archives.html > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html ___ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
