The Unraveling of Scientism

The Unraveling of Scientism, a companion to Joseph Margolis's Reinventing Pragmatism, follows the thread of American analytic philosophy through the second half of the twentieth century, the period of its greatest influence and activity. Margolis finds that the distinctive features of analytic philosophy were effectively altered, at about mid-century, most pointedly by W. V. Quine. Surprisingly, this was a time of declining conceptual invention and originality among the leading strands of philosophy -- pragmatism, logical positivism and the unity of science program, and the principal continental European movements.

Joseph Margolis is Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy at Temple University.