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Reconstructing individualism : a pragmatic tradition from Emerson to Ellison / James M. Albrecht.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Albrecht, James M.
- Series:
- American philosophy.
- American philosophy
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Dewey, John, 1859-1952--Philosophy.
- Dewey, John.
- Ellison, Ralph--Philosophy.
- Ellison, Ralph.
- Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 1803-1882--Philosophy.
- Emerson, Ralph Waldo.
- James, William, 1842-1910--Philosophy.
- James, William.
- Individualism in literature.
- Individualism--United States--History.
- Individualism.
- Literature and society--United States.
- Literature and society.
- Philosophy, American--19th century.
- Philosophy, American.
- Philosophy, American--20th century.
- Pragmatism in literature.
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource (392 p.)
- Edition:
- 1st ed.
- Place of Publication:
- New York : Fordham University Press, 2012.
- Language Note:
- English
- System Details:
- Mode of access: World Wide Web.
- Summary:
- America has a love–hate relationship with individualism. In Reconstructing Individualism, James Albrecht argues that our conceptions of individualism have remained trapped within the assumptions of classic liberalism. He traces an alternative genealogy of individualist ethics in four major American thinkers—Ralph Waldo Emerson, William James, John Dewey, and Ralph Ellison. These writers’ shared commitments to pluralism (metaphysical and cultural), experimentalism, and a melioristic stance toward value and reform led them to describe the self as inherently relational. Accordingly, they articulate models of selfhood that are socially engaged and ethically responsible, and they argue that a reconceived—or, in Dewey’s term, “reconstructed”—individualism is not merely compatible with but necessary to democratic community. Conceiving selfhood and community as interrelated processes, they call for an ongoing reform of social conditions so as to educate and liberate individuality, and, conversely, they affirm the essential role individuality plays in vitalizing communal efforts at reform.
- Contents:
- Front matter
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction. “Individualism Has Never Been Tried”
- One. What’s the Use of Reading Emerson Pragmatically?
- Two. “Let Us Have Worse Cotton and Better Men”
- Three. Moments in the World’s Salvation
- Four. Character and Community
- Five. “The Local Is the Ultimate Universal”
- Six. Saying Yes and Saying No
- Notes
- Index
- Notes:
- Description based upon print version of record.
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.
- ISBN:
- 9786613889911
- 9780823242122
- 0823242129
- 9781283577465
- 1283577461
- 9780823242115
- 0823242110
- 9780823246595
- 0823246590
- OCLC:
- 787845992
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