Dear Gary, list:
You said: Meanwhile, can anyone on the list offer some Peirce quotations which might help quickly clarify his views on democracy? Here is one…or two…or perhaps three: “The best republic is the ideally perfect, the second the best on earth, the third the best *ex hypotheseos,* under the circumstances.” ~Peirce, *Some Consequences of Four Incapacities* “It appears to have been virtually the philosophy of Socrates.” ~CP 6.490 Best, Jerry R On Sat, Nov 19, 2016 at 1:59 PM, Gary Richmond <[email protected]> wrote: > List, > > I read Robert B. Talisse's *A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy* (2007) > a few year ago and was thinking of it again today, in part prompted by an > op-ed piece in *The New York Times* by Roger Cohen which quotes H. L. > Mencken (see below). At the time of my reading PPD, I was not at all > convinced that Talisee had demonstrated his principal thesis, namely, that > we ought replace the inadequate, in his opinion, Dewyan approach to > thinking about democracy with a Peircean based approach. This is how > David Hildebrand (U. of Colorado) outlined Talisse's argument in a review > in *The Notre Dame Philosophical Review. > **http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/23707-a-pragmatist-philosophy-of-democracy/ > <http://ndpr.nd.edu/news/23707-a-pragmatist-philosophy-of-democracy/>* > > > [Hildebrand] As I read PPD, I kept returning to two fundamental > propellants powering Talisse's argument for a Peircean-based democratic > theory. The first is constructive: his quest for a lean, non-normative > pragmatist inquiry to provide *just enough* of a philosophical basis for > a broadly effective conception of democracy. The second is destructive: the > argument that political theorists should reject Dewey's self-refuting > philosophy of democracy. Taken together, the insight is this: get over > Dewey and accept this particular Peirce and we get just what we need from > pragmatism for the purposes of democracy. > > > Hildebrand's review is a good introduction to the PPD. While I'm not much > of a Deweyan, and I wouldn't presume to argue for or against his ideas, yet > I don't think Talisse makes a strong case *for* a Peircean approach to > political theory on democracy,. > > I should add, however, that Talisse is, in my opinion, a very good thinker > and an excellent writer. Besides this book, over the years I've read a > number of his scholarly articles and heard him speak in NYC and elsewhere. > PPD is definitely worth reading, while those with a Deweyan democracy bent > will probably find themselves arguing with him nearly point for point (as > Hildebrand pretty much does). On the other hand, the concluding chapter on > Sidney Hook is valuable in its own right. As Talisse writes: > > Hook's life stands as an inspiring image of democratic success; for > success consists precisely in *the activity of political engagement by > means of public inquiry*. > > > I haven't got my e-CP available, so I can't locate references, but it > seems to me that Peirce's view of democracy as I recall it is, if not > nearly anti-democratic (I vaguely recall some passages in a letter to Lady > Welby), it may at least be closer to H. L. Mencken's: > > > As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, > the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great > and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s > desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron. > > > I doubt that a discussion of PPD would be very valuable, but it might be > interesting to at least briefly reflect on Peirce's views of democracy. As > I recall,he hasn't much to say about democracy in what's published in the > CP and the other writings which have been made available to us. Perhaps > more will be uncovered in years to come as his complete correspondence is > published in W (I probably won't be alive for that as I understand that it > will probably be the last or near last volume in W, and at the snail's pace > the W is moving. . .) > > Meanwhile, can anyone on the list offer some Peirce quotations which might > help quickly clarify his views on democracy? I would, of course, hope that > if there is some discussion here that we keep to a strictly theoretical > discussion, especially in light of the strong feelings generated by the > recent American presidential election. > > Best, > > Gary R > > st Philosophy of Democracy > [image: Gary Richmond] > > *Gary Richmond* > *Philosophy and Critical Thinking* > *Communication Studies* > *LaGuardia College of the City University of New York* > *C 745* > *718 482-5690 <718%20482-5690>* > > > ----------------------------- > PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON > PEIRCE-L to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to > [email protected] . To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message not to PEIRCE-L > but to [email protected] with the line "UNSubscribe PEIRCE-L" in the > BODY of the message. More at http://www.cspeirce.com/peirce-l/peirce-l.htm > . > > > > > >
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