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American Philosophies

From Wounded Knee to the Present: 2nd Edition

  • Textbook
American Philosophies cover

American Philosophies

From Wounded Knee to the Present: 2nd Edition

  • Textbook
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Pre-order. Available 13 Nov 2025
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Description

American Philosophies offers the first historically framed introduction to the tradition of American philosophy and its contemporary engagement with the world.

Born out of the social and political turmoil of the Civil War, American philosophy was a means of dealing with conflict and change. In the turbulence of the 21st century, it remains as relevant as ever. Placing the work of present-day American philosophers in the context of a history of resistance, through a philosophical tradition marked by a commitment to pluralism, fallibilism and liberation, this book tells the story of philosophies shaped by major events.

The 2nd edition of this book presents a survey of the historical development of American philosophy, as well as coverage of key contemporary issues in America including race theory, feminism, gender, indigenous peoples, philosophies of disability and environmentalism. In particular, it contains new coverage of Covid, the election of Donald Trump, American religious thought, and immigration history. It also takes the dramatic political and social machinations of the past seven years seriously, and engages with emerging voices and traditions. This is a substantial and provocative introduction to the work of the major American thinkers and their contemporary interlocuters.

Table of Contents

Prologue

PART I: American Philosophies of Resistance
1 Introduction
2 Defining Pluralism: Simon Pokagon, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and T. Thomas Fortune
3 Evolution and American Indian Philosophy
4 Feminist Resistance: Margaret Fuller, Anna Julia Cooper, Jane Addams, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman
5 Transcendental Origins: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau
6 Labor, Empire, Populism, and the Social Gospel: Washington Gladden, Walter Rauschenbusch, and Jane Addams
7 A New Name for an Old Way of Thinking: William James
8 Making Ideas Clear: Charles Sanders Peirce
9 The Beloved Community and Its Discontents: Josiah Royce and the Realists
10 War, Anarchism, and Sex: Emma Goldman and Margaret Sanger
11 Democracy and Social Ethics: John Dewey
PART II: Resistance and Transition
12 Naturalism and Idealism, Fear and Conventionality: Mary Whiton Calkins and Elsie Clews Parsons
13 Race Riots and the Color Line: W. E. B. Du Bois
14 Creative Experience: Mary Parker Follett
15 Cultural Pluralism: Horace Kallen and Alain LeRoy Locke
16 War and the Rise of Logical Positivism
17 Analytic Philosophy and the Pluralist Revolt
PART III: Social Revolutions
18 Civil Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr, Richard Wright, and James Baldwin
19 Black Power: Malcolm X, James Cone, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Angela Davis, and Cornel West
20 Latin America
21 Red Power, Indigenous Philosophy: Vine Deloria, Jr, and Contemporary Native American Indian Thought
22 Feminist Philosophy and Practice
23 Engaged Philosophy and the Environment
PART IV: Democratic Futures
24 Recovery and Revitalization of the American Tradition
25 American Philosophy and the Culture Wars
26 American Philosophy of the Future

Epilogue

Bibliography
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 13 Nov 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 2nd
Extent 448
ISBN 9781350342750
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 244 x 169 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Erin McKenna

Erin McKenna is Professor of Philosophy at the Uni…

Author

Scott L. Pratt

Scott L. Pratt is Professor of Philosophy at the U…

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