Varieties of Pragmatism

Douglas McDermid teaches philosophy at Trent University, Canada. He has published more than a dozen articles in various philosophical journals.

• 1. Pragmatism: Deconstruction or Reconstruction? 2. Pragmatism and the Correspondence Theory of Truth 3. The Comparison Objection: Pragmatism and Foundationalism 4. The Constructivist Objection: Pragmatism and Realism 5. Correspondence: Denied or Merely Demystified? 6. Towards An Anatomy of Pragmatism 7. Rorty, Neo-Pragmatism, and The End of Epistemology 8. Why Can't Epistemology Be 'Foundational'? 9. Does Epistemology Rest on a Mistake? Rorty on Scepticism 10. Epilogue: Putting Pragmatism In Perspective Appendix: Rorty, Truth and Non-Cognitivism Bibliography Index

"McDermid offers a defense of pragmatist arguments against a realist epistemology and the correspondence theory of truth—that a statement is true if and only if it mirrors reality—by briefly examining the arguments of classical writers such as William James, F.C.S. Schiller, and John Dewey, and of neopragmatists Donald Davidson, Hillary Putnam, and Richard Rorty. The volume consists of eight chapters in two sections: "Pragmatism and the Correspondence Theory of Truth" outlines some important pragmatist arguments for and against realism and the correspondence theory; "Neo Pragmatism and Epistemology" defends epistemological realism by challenging the pragmatist arguments for a coherence theory, and Rorty's pragmatist credentials. The epilogue presents a Platonic myth in which the author defends philosophy, objectivity, and reason. Three short appendixes follow on Rorty's conception of truth, Putnam's and Kant's views on the coherence theory, and James's and Dewey's criticisms of the correspondence theory. A general bibliography lists classical and contemporary works to 2003...the book assumes a mastery of the field."