Practicing Philosophy: Pragmatism and the Philosophical Life

With the increasing professionalization of philosophy, the question of what constitutes philosophical living has been largely neglected. Now one of the leading philosophers working in the pragmatist tradition aims to recover and elaborate the pragmatic idea of philosophy as a practice of living and a practical guide to living better. "How should one live and how should the practice of philosophy relate to the project of one's life?" Shusterman asks. By way of suggesting answers to this question,Practicing Philosophyoffers an analysis of the essential dimensions of the philosophical life as practiced in this century. He explores specific philosophical problems as treated by major twentieth-century pragmatists--Dewey, Goodman, Rorty, and Putnam--as well as by other theorists--Cavell, Habermas, Croce, and Danto--who can be assimilated into the pragmatist tradition. Shusterman concludes with a personal example of critical philosophical living by applying philosophy to theanalysis and direction of a central issue in his own life.