The power of Introducing Prophetic Pragmatism lies in its co-authorship. In scholarly friendship, Goodson and Stone debate, explore, respond, and sometimes agree to disagree about the meaning and relevant contexts of Cornel West's groundbreaking work. The result is a fresh approach to understanding prophetic pragmatism.

Shannon Sullivan, UNC Charlotte

What reason is there to reason in the face of catastrophic suffering and injustice? What hope? For Goodson and Stone, the answer is Prophetic Pragmatism: practices of prudential reasoning that display their powers of discernment and repair in times of darkness, when conventional reasonings lose their efficacy. But how, then, to introduce this pragmatism within the conventions of a book? The authors’ ingenious solution is to compose the book dialogically, shuttling back and forth between their divergent accounts of what prophetic pragmatism means. Attentive readers become participants in the dialogue – no mere observers. When they do, there is even more to hope for.

Peter Ochs, University of Virginia