Robbins Library Notes

Good morning, readers!

After finishing the research for the Bechtel Room portrait guide, I can’t help wondering: is the path that Anglo-American philosophy took in the 20th century really “progress,” the natural evolution of the discipline?  Or is it merely the result of a set of personalities, egos, historical circumstances, ideologies, and such that came together at a particular point in history to drive Anglo-American philosophy down a particular path that was not inevitable?

I realize that I’m being provocative with my questions, given that there is a common perception that what did happen is precisely natural and progress.  Yet, I don’t want to slip into some post-modern silliness, either.

What do you think, readers?  I’m genuinely curious to know your views.

Good morning, readers!

As  I’m working on the guide that I mentioned in my post two weeks ago, I want to share with you some good general histories and critiques of and guides to American philosophy and philosophers that I’ve uncovered.  A few of these overlap with the earlier post, but I want to include them here as well.

Alcoff, L. M.  (2003).  Singing in the Fire: Stories of Women in Philosophy.  New York: Rowman & Littlefield.

Campbell, J.  (2007).  One Hundred Years of Pragmatism.  Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 43(1): 1-15.

Charles S. Peirce Society.  (2009).  Retrieved 8 October 2009 from http://www.peircesociety.org/.

DeArmey, M. & Good, J. A. (Eds.) (2001).  The St. Louis Hegelians.  3 Vols. New York: Thoemmes Continuum.

Ferguson, A.  (1994).  Twenty Years of Feminist Philosophy.  Hypatia 9(3): 197-215.

Field, R.  (2005).  The St. Louis Hegelians.  Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.  Retrieved 5 October 2009 from http://www.iep.utm.edu/hstlouis.

Floyd, J. & Shieh, S.  (2001).  Future Pasts: The Analytic Tradition in Twentieth-Century Philosophy.  New York: Oxford University Press.

Goodman, R. (2009).  Transcendentalism.  The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. E. N. Zalta (Ed.).  Retrieved 5 October 2009 from http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2009/entries/transcendentalism.

Haldane, J.  (2002).  American Philosophy: ‘Scotch’ or ‘Teutonic’?  Philosophy 77(301): 311-329.

Hollinger, D. A. (1980).  The Problem of Pragmatism in American History.  Journal of American History 67(1): 88-107.

Kaag, J.  (2008).  Women and Forgotten Movements in American Philosophy: The Work of Ella Lyman Cabot and Mary Parker Follett.  Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society 44(1): 134-157.

Karnos, D. D. & Shoemaker, R. G.  (1994).  Falling in Love with Wisdom: American Philosophers Talk About Their Calling.  New York: Oxford University Press.

Kuklick, B.  (1977).  The Rise of American Philosophy: Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1860-1930.  New Haven: Yale University Press.

Kuklick, B.  (2002).  A History of Philosophy in America, 1720-2000.  New York: Oxford University Press.

Marsoobian, A. T. & Ryder, J.  (Eds.) (2004).  The Blackwell Guide to American Philosophy.  New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Miller, P.  (1970). The Life of the Mind in America: From the Revolution to the Civil War.  New York: Mariner.

Outlaw, L. T. (1996). The “Future” of Philosophy in America. In On Race and Philosophy.  New York: Routledge.  183-204.

Outlaw, L. T. (1997).  Africana Philosophy. Journal of Ethics 1(3): 265-290.

Pragmatism Cybrary.  (2009).  Retrieved 8 October 2009 from http://www.pragmatism.org/.

Rorty, R.  (1980).  Philosophy in America Today.  In Consequences of Pragmatism: Essays, 1972-1980.  Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.  211-230.

Soames, S.  (2003).  Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century.  2 vols.  Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy.  (2009).  Retrieved 9 October 2009 from http://www.american-philosophy.org/index.htm.

West, C. (1989).  The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism.  Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.

Wettstein, H. & French, P. A. (Eds.).  (2004).  The American Philosophers. Midwest Studies in Philosophy, Vol. XXVIII.  New York: Wiley-Blackwell.

Yancy, G.  (Ed.).  (1998).  African-American Philosophers: 17 Conversations.  New York: Routledge

Are there others that I’m missing?