Richard J. Bernstein and the Expansion of American Philosophy: Thinking the Plural

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Thinking The Plural: Richard J. Bernstein and the Expansion of American Philosophy is a text devoted to highlighting, scrutinizing, and deploying Bernsteins philosophical research as it has intersected and impacted American and European philosophy. Collecting essays written explicitly for the volume from former students of Bernsteins, 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 Bernsteins 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 Bernsteins 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 Bernsteins 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 Bernsteins scholarship through the extension of pluralism into territory Bernstein himself did not enter. The chapters, individually and collectively, demonstrate the force of Bernsteins 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 Bernsteins work and their relationship to the history of philosophy.

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 Bernsteins 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 Jrgen 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 Bernsteins 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 *

Author Bio

Megan Craig is associate professor of philosophy and art at Stony Brook University. Marcia Morgan is associate professor of philosophy at Muhlenberg College.