The Pragmatists and Environmental Pragmatism
William James and John Dewey approached philosophy as a practical necessity for interpreting, evaluating, criticizing, and redirecting culture. In this course we will introduce their philosophies – along with the philosophies of Charles S. Peirce, Jane Addams, and George Herbert Mead – and explore their continuing relevance for current struggles, with an emphasis on environmental problems. Our principal focus will be Dewey, the foremost representative of American pragmatism. We will dedicate at least a full day each week to environmental pragmatism, a contemporary movement among philosophers who are struggling to think more perceptively, imaginatively, and effectively about environmental issues. Course work will culminate in a philosophical analysis of a chosen environmental problem. This course counts as a cognate for ENVS majors who have a focus in the natural sciences.