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Richard J. Bernstein and the Expansion of American Philosophy

Thinking the Plural

Edited by Marcia Morgan and Megan Craig - Foreword by George Yancy - Contributions by Edward S. Casey; Michael Weinman; Karen Ng; Christopher P. Long; Brendan Hogan; Lawrence Marcelle; Marcia Morgan; Megan Craig; Rocío Zambrana; Espen Hammer; Lauren Barthold; Katie Terezakis and Richard J. Bernstein

Thinking The Plural: Richard J. Bernstein and the Expansion of American Philosophy is a text devoted to highlighting, scrutinizing, and deploying Bernstein’s philosophical research as it has intersected and impacted American and European philosophy. Collecting essays written explicitly for the volume from former students of Bernstein’s, the book shows the breadth and scope of his work while expanding key insights into new contexts and testing his work against thinkers outside the canon of his own scholarship. In light of urgent contemporary ethical and political problems, the papers collected here show the continuing relevance of Bernstein’s lifelong focus on democracy, dialogue, pragmatism, fallibilism, and pluralism. Bernstein has always contested the supposed Analytic/Continental divide, insisting on the pluralism of philosophical discourses and styles that contribute to genuine debate and save philosophy from stale academicism. This book enacts Bernstein’s pluralistic spirit by crossing traditions and generating new avenues for ongoing research. A central argument of the book is that thinkers of different backgrounds, using diverse, and even clashing methodologies, contribute to the understanding of a given problem, issue, or theme. This argument lies at the heart of Bernstein’s published works and is central to the fallibilistic pragmatism of his pedagogy. This book therefore does not rest on a single answer to a question or a univocal theme, but shows the differentiation of Bernstein’s scholarship through the extension of pluralism into territory Bernstein himself did not enter. The chapters, individually and collectively, demonstrate the force of Bernstein’s pluralism beyond mere commentary on his works.

This book will be of interest to many people: 1) scholars, students and others in American philosophy who have worked on or with Richard J. Bernstein or in the tradition of American Pragmatism widely construed, 2) those interested in the intersections between American and European philosophy or between the Analytic and Continental traditions, 3) professional philosophers, philosophy students, and public intellectuals concerned with the application of theory to contemporary ethical and political problems, and 4) those interested in an introduction to the key concepts animating Bernstein’s work and their relationship to the history of philosophy.

Lexington Books

Pages: 308 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-3010-1 • Hardback • December 2016 • $123.00 • (£95.00)

978-1-4985-3012-5 • Paperback • April 2019 • $53.99 • (£42.00)

978-1-4985-3011-8 • eBook • December 2016 • $51.00 • (£39.00)

Series: American Philosophy Series

Subjects: Philosophy / Political, Philosophy / American Philosophy, Philosophy / Continental Philosophy

Richard J. Bernstein and the Expansion of American Philosophy

Thinking the Plural

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

Thinking The Plural: Richard J. Bernstein and the Expansion of American Philosophy is a text devoted to highlighting, scrutinizing, and deploying Bernstein’s philosophical research as it has intersected and impacted American and European philosophy. Collecting essays written explicitly for the volume from former students of Bernstein’s, the book shows the breadth and scope of his work while expanding key insights into new contexts and testing his work against thinkers outside the canon of his own scholarship. In light of urgent contemporary ethical and political problems, the papers collected here show the continuing relevance of Bernstein’s lifelong focus on democracy, dialogue, pragmatism, fallibilism, and pluralism. Bernstein has always contested the supposed Analytic/Continental divide, insisting on the pluralism of philosophical discourses and styles that contribute to genuine debate and save philosophy from stale academicism. This book enacts Bernstein’s pluralistic spirit by crossing traditions and generating new avenues for ongoing research. A central argument of the book is that thinkers of different backgrounds, using diverse, and even clashing methodologies, contribute to the understanding of a given problem, issue, or theme. This argument lies at the heart of Bernstein’s published works and is central to the fallibilistic pragmatism of his pedagogy. This book therefore does not rest on a single answer to a question or a univocal theme, but shows the differentiation of Bernstein’s scholarship through the extension of pluralism into territory Bernstein himself did not enter. The chapters, individually and collectively, demonstrate the force of Bernstein’s pluralism beyond mere commentary on his works.

This book will be of interest to many people: 1) scholars, students and others in American philosophy who have worked on or with Richard J. Bernstein or in the tradition of American Pragmatism widely construed, 2) those interested in the intersections between American and European philosophy or between the Analytic and Continental traditions, 3) professional philosophers, philosophy students, and public intellectuals concerned with the application of theory to contemporary ethical and political problems, and 4) those interested in an introduction to the key concepts animating Bernstein’s work and their relationship to the history of philosophy.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 308 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4985-3010-1 • Hardback • December 2016 • $123.00 • (£95.00)

978-1-4985-3012-5 • Paperback • April 2019 • $53.99 • (£42.00)

978-1-4985-3011-8 • eBook • December 2016 • $51.00 • (£39.00)

Series: American Philosophy Series

Subjects: Philosophy / Political, Philosophy / American Philosophy, Philosophy / Continental Philosophy

Author

Megan Craig is associate professor of philosophy and art at Stony Brook University.

Marcia Morgan is associate professor of philosophy at Muhlenberg College.

Table of Contents

Foreword by George Yancy

Editors’ Introduction

Prologue by Edward S. Casey: “Richard Bernstein and the Legacy of Pluralism”

Section I: Judgment and Critique

Chapter 1: Michael Weinman
“Phronēsis in a Post-Metaphysical Age: Aristotle and Practical Philosophy Today”

Chapter 2: Karen Ng
“Human Plurality and Precarious Life: Problems in Arendt’s Theory of Judgment”

Chapter 3: Christopher P. Long
“Pragmatism and the Cultivation of Digital Democracies”

Chapter 4: Brendan Hogan and Lawrence Marcelle
“Any Democracy Worth Its Name: Bernstein’s Democratic Ēthos and a Role for Representation”

Chapter 5: Marcia Morgan
“Critique, Dissidence, and Aesthetic Emancipation at the Margins”

Chapter 6: Megan Craig
“Incommensurability and Solidarity: Building Coalitions with Bernstein and Butler”

Section II: Hermeneutics and History

Chapter 7: Rocío Zambrana
“Bernstein’s Hegel”

Chapter 8: Espen Hammer
“Reading Husserl without Cartesian Anxiety”

Chapter 9: Lauren Barthold
“Acts of Betrayal: Gadamer and Hermeneutics”

Chapter 10: Katie Terezakis
“The Philosophy of Action in John William Miller and Richard J. Bernstein”

Chapter 11: Megan Craig
“Interpreting Violence with Richard J. Bernstein”

Epilogue: Richard J. Bernstein
“Engaged Fallibilistic Pluralism”

Reviews

Honoring Dick Bernstein (b. 1932), long-time professor of philosophy at New School for Social Research, this collection is an excellent reminder to those who have benefited over many years from Bernstein’s scholarship and publications, e.g., Beyond Objectivism and Relativism (CH, May'84), Praxis and Action (CH, Jul'72), and critical appraisals of such figures as C. S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey, Hannah Arendt, Hans Gadamer, and Jürgen Habermas. In its own way each of the 11 essays explores what Bernstein called "engaged fallibilistic pragmatism." The essays are presented under two headings: "Judgment and Critique" and "Hermeneutics and History." The breadth of Bernstein’s philosophical grasp is well demonstrated. But more significantly described is his character as a teacher promoting courage to hold firm to particular commitments and encounter the truth through new questions and texts. As Lauren Barthold puts it in her essay (“Acts of Betrayal: Gadamer and Hermeneutics”), “To perpetuate a tradition and keep it alive requires one to be open to applying it anew and living it out in different ways.” This volume properly celebrates Bernstein and his expansion of American philosophy. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.
— Choice Reviews

Richard J. Bernstein and the Expansion of American Philosophy

Thinking the Plural

Richard J. Bernstein and the Expansion of American Philosophy

Thinking the Plural

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