John Rawls and American Pragmatism: Between Engagement and Avoidance

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The textual and contextual connections between John Rawls's intellectual figure and American pragmatism (broadly conceived) have become topics of discussion only recently. This is at least in part due to the fact that Rawls seemed to have taken a "pragmatic turn" in his intellectual trajectoryfrom A Theory of Justice (1971) to Political Liberalism (1993). John Rawls and American Pragmatism: Between Engagement and Avoidance intervenes in these discussions with two unconventional claims corroborated by archival research. First, Daniele Botti shows that Rawls's thinking owes more to the American pragmatists' views than is generally recognized. Second, and in the light of the pragmatist sources of Rawls's thinking, Botti argues that we should reverse the common narrative about Rawls's alleged pragmatic turn and interpret it as a quite "un-pragmatic" one. By making the case for interpreting Rawls as an American pragmatist, this book profoundly transforms not only a widely held interpretation about Rawls's intellectual trajectory, but also our understanding of the American philosophical vicissitude in the second half of the twentieth century.

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Daniele Botti effectively upends the conventional view that Rawlss introduction of political liberalism marked a pragmatic turn. Drawing on archival materials and on impressive philosophical learning, Botti locates deep pragmatist strains in Rawlss thought from the late 1940s onwards, predating Quines publications and compromised, if anything, by political liberalisms step back from universalism. The result is a highly illuminating account not only of Rawlss work as a whole but also of the great tradition of American pragmatism more generally. -- Henry S. Richardson, Professor of Philosophy, Georgetown University

Author Bio

Daniele Botti is adjunct professor in the Department of Philosophy and Political Science at Quinnipiac University and in the Department of Philosophy at Fairfield University.