A concise, reader-friendly overview of pragmatism, the most influential school of American philosophical thought. Pragmatism, America's homegrown philosophy, has been a major intellectual movement for over a century. Unlike its rivals, it reaches well beyond the confines of philosophy into concerns and disciplines as diverse as religion, politics, science, and culture. In this concise, engagingly written overview, John R. Shook describes pragmatism's origins, concepts, and continuing global relevance and appeal. With attention to the movement's original thinkers-Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead-as well as its contemporary proponents, he explains how pragmatism thinks about what is real, what can be known, and what minds are doing. And because of pragmatism's far-reaching impact, Shook shows how its views on reality, truth, knowledge, and cognition coordinate with its approaches to agency, sociality, human nature, and personhood.

Pragmatism (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Politics & Social Sciences

Shook, John R.

Philosophy

The MIT Press

Systematic Atheology: Atheism’s Reasoning with Theology (Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Religion)

Routledge

The ongoing revival of interest in the work of American philosopher and pragmatist John Dewey has given rise to a burgeoning flow of commentaries, critical editions, and reevaluations of Dewey's writings. While previous studies of Dewey's work have taken either a historical or a topical focus, Shook offers an innovative, organic approach to understanding Dewey and eloquently shows that Dewey's instrumentalism grew seamlessly out of his idealism. He argues that most current scholarship operates under a mistaken impression of Dewey's early philosophical positions and convincingly demonstrates a number of key points:that Dewey's metaphysical empiricism remained more indebted to Kant and Hegel than is commonly supposed; that Dewey owed more to the influence of Wundt than is commonly believed;that the influence of Peirce and James was not as significant for the development of Dewey's theories of mind and truth as has been argued in the past;and that Dewey's pragmatic theory of knowledge never really abandoned idealism.Shook's exposition of the unity of Dewey's thought challenges a large scholarly industry devoted to suppressing or explaining away the consistency between Dewey's early thought and his later work. In every respect, Dewey's Empirical Theory of Knowledge and Reality is a provocative and engaging study that will occupy a unique niche in this field. It is certain to stimulate discussion and controversy, forcing Dewey traditionalists out of habitual modes of thought and transforming our conventional understanding of the development of classical American philosophy.

Dewey's Empirical Theory of Knowledge and Reality (Vanderbilt Library of American Philosophy)

Vanderbilt University Press

The ongoing revival of interest in the work of American philosopher and pragmatist John Dewey has given rise to a burgeoning flow of commentaries, critical editions, and reevaluations of Dewey's writings. While previous studies of Dewey's work have taken either a historical or a topical focus, Shook offers an innovative, organic approach to understanding Dewey and eloquently shows that Dewey's instrumentalism grew seamlessly out of his idealism. He argues that most current scholarship operates under a mistaken impression of Dewey's early philosophical positions and convincingly demonstrates a number of key points:
that Dewey's metaphysical empiricism remained more indebted to Kant and Hegel than is commonly supposed; that Dewey owed more to the influence of Wundt than is commonly believed; that the influence of Peirce and James was not as significant for the development of Dewey's theories of mind and truth as has been argued in the past; and that Dewey's pragmatic theory of knowledge never really abandoned idealism.
Shook's exposition of the unity of Dewey's thought challenges a large scholarly industry devoted to suppressing or explaining away the consistency between Dewey's early thought and his later work. In every respect, Dewey's Empirical Theory of Knowledge and Reality is a provocative and engaging study that will occupy a unique niche in this field. It is certain to stimulate discussion and controversy, forcing Dewey traditionalists out of habitual modes of thought and transforming our conventional understanding of the development of classical American philosophy.

Dewey's Empirical Theory of Knowledge and Reality (The Vanderbilt Library of American Philosophy)

Atheology is the intellectual effort to understand atheism, defend the reasonableness of unbelief, and support nonbelievers in their encounters with religion. This book presents a historical overview of the development of atheology from ancient thought to the present day. It offers in-depth examinations of four distinctive schools of atheological thought: rationalist atheology, scientific atheology, moral atheology, and civic atheology. John R. Shook shows how a familiarity with atheology’s complex histories, forms, and strategies illuminates the contentious features of today’s atheist and secularist movements, which are just as capable of contesting each other as opposing religion. The result is a book that provides a disciplined and philosophically rigorous examination of atheism’s intellectual strategies for reasoning with theology. Systematic Atheology is an important contribution to the philosophy of religion, religious studies, secular studies, and the sociology and psychology of nonreligion.

The God Debates: A 21st Century Guide for Atheists and Believers (and Everyone in Between)

The God Debates presents a comprehensive, non-technical survey of the quest for knowledge of God, allowing readers to participate in a debate about the existence of God and gain understanding and appreciation of religion?s conceptual foundations. <ul>
<li>Explains key arguments for and against God's existence in clear ways for readers at all levels</li> <li>Brings theological debates up to the present with current ideas from modernism, postmodernism, fideism, evidentialism, presuppositionalism, and mysticism</li> <li>Updates criticism of theology by dealing with the latest terms of the God debates instead of outdated caricatures of religion</li> <li>Helps nonbelievers to learn important theological standpoints while noting their shortcomings</li> <li>Encourages believers and nonbelievers to enjoy informed dialogue with each other</li> <li>Concludes with an overview of religious and nonreligious worldviews and predictions about the future of faith and reason</li> </ul>

Wiley/Blackwell

Cambridge pragmatism was recognisably different from the instrumentalism of Dewey's Chicago school. Until James's death in 1910, commentators on pragmatism typically either wrote about James's pragmatism or Dewey's instrumentalism, but not both. Not until the 1910s did many philosophers begin to treat pragmatism as a fairly unified set of doctrines. This change in standpoint is reflected in the organisation of the sets and volumes. This first set contains the only writings about Peirce, James, or other Cambridge pragmatists.

The Cambridge School of Pragmatism: 4 Volumes (Foundations of Pragmatism in American Thought)

Thoemmes

Functionalist Psychology (Thoemmes Library of American Thought)

Thoemmes Continuum

Where did everything come from? Why are humans so biologically similar, and why do we let small differences divide us? What shall determine our destiny? Paul Singh and John R. Shook draw on the latest findings from the physical and biological sciences, astronomy and cosmology, geology and genetics, and prehistory and archeology in search of answers. As they lucidly and engagingly demonstrate, the answers science gives about ourselves and the universe in which we live are incomparably more surprising and interesting than any mythical tale about some clash of titans or calculating creator. Indeed, science’s proud journey of exploration and discovery is humanity’s finest narrative yet, about how we trusted our intelligence to find out what we really are and who we can be—intrepidly going wherever the evidence led. Even though science reveals that humanity may have no special place in the universe, humanity is truly special because of our ability to comprehend our universe. Thus, this inspiring story of exploration and discovery is a celebration not only of science—of science’s knowledge of the world, and of science’s own journeys to gain that knowledge—but also of ourselves.

Discovering Our World: Humanity's Epic Journey from Myth to Knowledge

Religion & Spirituality

Singh, Paul

Religious Studies

Pitchstone Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shook, John R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Shook, John R.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shook, John R.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Pragmatism (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Systematic Atheology: Atheism’s Reasoning with Theology (Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Religion)

Dewey's Empirical Theory of Knowledge and Reality (Vanderbilt Library of American Philosophy)

Dewey's Empirical Theory of Knowledge and Reality (The Vanderbilt Library of American Philosophy)

Systematic Atheology: Atheism’s Reasoning with Theology (Routledge Studies in the Philosophy of Religion)

The God Debates: A 21st Century Guide for Atheists and Believers (and Everyone in Between)

The God Debates: A 21st Century Guide for Atheists and Believers (and Everyone in Between)

The Cambridge School of Pragmatism: 4 Volumes (Foundations of Pragmatism in American Thought)

Functionalist Psychology (Thoemmes Library of American Thought)

Discovering Our World: Humanity's Epic Journey from Myth to Knowledge