GOVT 6606

The Politics of Pragmatism

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2014-2015.

This seminar will explore the intersection of political theory and American pragmatism. While questions of political theory have often been seen as external to the concerns of pragmatism as a philosophy, this course will consider what practical tools pragmatism makes available for the study of politics. Central to pragmatism's originality is its radical and social conception of experience, which will be our primary focus this semester. Beginning with a study of Emerson, we will explore classical and contemporary statements of pragmatism and their political consequences. Among other topics we will discuss action, inquiry, belief, faith, and power. We will also consider the attempts of other twentieth-century thinkers to rethink the nature of experience and its relationship to politics, including Bergson, Du Bois, and Whitehead.

When Offered Fall.

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