Product details
Biographical note
John Lachs is Centennial Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University.
<p>Stoic Pragmatism offers plenty of appeal and promise. It fulfills its pragmatic mission of aiming at amelioration and encouraging our hopes - hopes partly inspired by Lachs's promise of further statements and refinements of his views.</p> * Philosophy in Review *<br /><p>. . . a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion of how pragmatism should be developed today . . . .</p> * Transactions C S Peirce Society *<br /><p>. . . I am confident thatStoic Pragmatism, like Walden, will elevate and humble readers by reminding them of their half-forgotten hopes for a nobler life.</p> * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *<br /><p>Few scholars have comprehended the capacities and limitations of classical American philosophy better than Lachs, who looks even further back to the Stoics as a model for understanding pragmatism. ... Recommended.</p> * Choice *
John Lachs, one of American philosophy's most distinguished interpreters, turns to William James, Josiah Royce, Charles S. Peirce, John Dewey, and George Santayana to elaborate stoic pragmatism, or a way to live life within reasonable limits. Stoic pragmatism makes sense of our moral obligations in a world driven by perfectionist human ambition and unreachable standards of achievement. Lachs proposes a corrective to pragmatist amelioration and stoic acquiescence by being satisfied with what is good enough. This personal, yet modest, philosophy offers penetrating insights into the American way of life and our human character.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. What Can Philosophy Do to Make Life Better?
2. Stoic Pragmatism
3. Infinite Obligations
4. An Ontology for Stoic Pragmatism
Epilogue: The Personal Value and Social Usefulness of Philosophy
Defining a philosophy of moral limits
<p>Stoic Pragmatism offers plenty of appeal and promise. It fulfills its pragmatic mission of aiming at amelioration and encouraging our hopes - hopes partly inspired by Lachs's promise of further statements and refinements of his views.</p> * Philosophy in Review *<br /><p>. . . a valuable contribution to the ongoing discussion of how pragmatism should be developed today . . . .</p> * Transactions C S Peirce Society *<br /><p>. . . I am confident thatStoic Pragmatism, like Walden, will elevate and humble readers by reminding them of their half-forgotten hopes for a nobler life.</p> * Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *<br /><p>Few scholars have comprehended the capacities and limitations of classical American philosophy better than Lachs, who looks even further back to the Stoics as a model for understanding pragmatism. ... Recommended.</p> * Choice *
John Lachs, one of American philosophy's most distinguished interpreters, turns to William James, Josiah Royce, Charles S. Peirce, John Dewey, and George Santayana to elaborate stoic pragmatism, or a way to live life within reasonable limits. Stoic pragmatism makes sense of our moral obligations in a world driven by perfectionist human ambition and unreachable standards of achievement. Lachs proposes a corrective to pragmatist amelioration and stoic acquiescence by being satisfied with what is good enough. This personal, yet modest, philosophy offers penetrating insights into the American way of life and our human character.
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. What Can Philosophy Do to Make Life Better?
2. Stoic Pragmatism
3. Infinite Obligations
4. An Ontology for Stoic Pragmatism
Epilogue: The Personal Value and Social Usefulness of Philosophy
Defining a philosophy of moral limits
Product details
Biographical note
John Lachs is Centennial Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University.