Howard Mounce - The two pragmatisms: from Peirce to Rorty

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The Two Pragmatisms

The Pragmatist tradition in philosophy has, through the work of Richard Rorty, recently achieved a status until now has not been accorded to its founder, Charles Sanders Peirce. Much of Peirces work and his life has remained hidden and little explored, status instead lying with William James, who is known to have misinterpreted Peirces work.

The Two Pragmatisms: From Peirce to Rorty maps out the changing status and key ideas of the Pragmatist movement explaining the diverging paths of the Two Pragmatisms from Peirces pioneering work on the theory of signs, to Rortys seminal writings on the mirror of nature. The Realism of Peirce is contrasted with the anti-Realism that characterises much of the contemporary writing on Pragmatism. The work of Rorty in particular is used to explain the importance of Pragmatism today, in particular through his debt to Dewey, whom he has described as one of the three most important philosophers of the century.

The Two Pragmatisms: From Peirce to Rorty is a clear account of a philosophical movement that cannot be ignored, and should be read by anyone with an interest in contemporary philosophy.

H. O. Mounce lectures in philosophy at the University of Wales, Swansea. He is the author of Wittgensteins Tractatus: An Introduction.

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From Peirce to Rorty

H. O. Mounce

London and New York

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First published 1997

by Routledge

11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2002.

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada

by Routledge

29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

1997 H. O. Mounce

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data

Mounce, H. O.

The two pragmatisms: from Peirce to Rorty / H. O. Mounce.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Pragmatism History. 2. Pragmatism. 3. Peirce, Charles S. (Charles Sanders), 18391914. 4. Rorty, Richard. I. Title. B832.M686 1996 144.3dc209621878

CIP

ISBN 0-203-04521-1 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-27780-5 (OEB Format)

ISBN 0415152828 (hbk)

ISBN 0415152836 (pbk)

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To the memory of Gwyneth and Joseph Mounce

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I should like to express my gratitude to Ian Tipton and Helen Baldwin, the former for the care with which he read this work in manuscript, the latter for the skill with which she prepared it for publication. My greatest debt is to my wife who was a continual source of strength during the time when the work was written.