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There is a growing concern about living a meaningful life among those living in different contexts of cultural diversity, be it the American melting pot, the union of European nations, the multiculturally globalized, the multiformity of tribalism of various stripes, and the fashionable cyber bubbles of opinion and commentary that drive the outlooks of millions of uninformed consumers. This book argues for a wisdom that incorporates a reference for both knowledge and self-knowledge, as well as life experience and cultural traditions that have stood the test of time, all contributing to a framework in which we can navigate our lives.

An entire lifetime's work by Herman J. Saatkamp is collected here in A Life of Scholarship with Santayana: Essays and Reflections. From the first essay, published in 1972, to the latest, in 2017, almost fifty years of scholarship is given a fresh embodiment of expression. Saatkamp is considered by many to be the world's foremost authority on George Santayana's life and thought. Not only does this volume bring into clear relief Saatkamp's understanding of Santayana, the editing process, and genetic concerns and the future of philosophy, but it also betrays a lucid and humane understanding that aptly personifies a life spent in reflection, a discerning sense of appreciation, and an affirmation of life and learning.

For better or worse, Rorty has shaped the trajectory of academic philosophy. A decade after his passing, his legacy is ever present, especially in context of the growth of the far right, the struggle over the meaning of justice and equity, and the ecological crises we face. Edited by Randall Auxier, Eli Kramer, and Krzysztof Piotr Skowroński, Rorty and Beyond brings together leading international philosophers from the United States and Europe to reevaluate Rorty's legacy and explore what lies beyond his life and work. This collection covers a diverse territory, exploring Rorty's legacy regarding theories of truth, accounts of nature and naturalism, the historical situation of professional philosophy, the private and public aspects of religion, the place of literature in cultural politics, and points beyond Rorty, such as what we may hope for after his critical attack on certainty and ultimacy. Scholars, specialists, and those new to Rorty will all find insight, useful criticism, and edification in this volume.

John Lachs (1934-) has been one of the most interesting American philosophers for nearly sixty years. His philosophical, educational, and public activity has been an attempt to show the relevance of philosophy to life. This is the first book dedicated to his thought. International scholars have proposed different themes in Lachs'philosophy, so as to present its enormous potential. Lachs'responses to his critics shows that dialogue with his critics is an inspirational activity for both sides. Lachs'way of philosophizing can be seen as exemplary for those who want to unify and present a clear and understandable articulation of moral and philosophical messages to everyone.

With The Life of Reason in an Age of Terrorism, Charles Padrón and Kris Skowroński (editors) gather together a broad assortment of contributions that address the germaneness of George Santayana's (1863-1952) social and political thought to the world of the early twenty-first century in general, and specifically to the phenomenon of terrorism.The essays treat a broad range of philosophical and historical concerns: the life of reason, the philosophy of the everyday, fanaticism, liberalism, barbarism, egoism, and relativism. The essays reflect a wide range of viewpoints and perspectives, but all coalesce around discussions of how Santayana's thought fits in with and enhances an understanding of both our challenging times, and our uncertain future.Contributors are: Cayetano Estébanez, Matthew Caleb Flamm, Nóra Horváth, Jacquelyn Ann Kegley, Till Kinzel, Katarzyna Kremplewska, John Lachs, José Beltrán Llavador, Eduardo Mendieta, Daniel Moreno Moreno, Luka Nikolic, Charles Padrón, Giuseppe Patella, Daniel Pinkas, Herman Saatkamp, Jr., Matteo Santarelli, Krzysztof Piotr Skowroński and Andrés Tutor.

For over 2000 years, economics was studied in the West as a branch of ethics, or moral philosophy. Presently, though, few economists and no textbook in economic orthodoxy claim any close connection between economic science and philosophy. However, might the current ‘crises'in economics, and in the economics profession have their deep roots in the separation of economics from philosophy and ethics? American pragmatism, among the various contemporary philosophic traditions, lends itself specially to dialogue with economics because of its view of philosophy as an instrument for solving the real, concrete problems of human life, both personal and social. The essays in this volume, drawing heavily on the tradition of pragmatism, suggest that the economic crises of our time (the 2008 collapse of real estate and finance markets) might not be merely technical in nature - that is, the result of faulty applications of economic tools by politicians and policy makers, based up conventional economic models - but also due to the faulty philosophical assumptions underlying those models. These essays suggest that the overcoming of our current economic crises requires that economists once again become moral philosophers, or that philosophers once again engage themselves in economic matters. In either case, this volume aims to foster dialogue between the two disciplines and in that way, contribute to the improvement of contemporary economic life.This book is suitable for those who study political economy, economic theory and economic philosophy.

Richard Rorty is perhaps the most famous American philosopher internationally, and his later, neopragmatist philosophy is decidedly one of his most commented upon. Values, Valuations, and Axiological Norms in Richard Rorty's Neopragmatism proposes different themes in order to delve into the enormous potential that Rorty's later philosophical thought possesses, using the perspective of the axiological and normative dimensions. With reference to philosophers such as Kant, Dewey, Santayana, and Kołakowski, Krzysztof Piotr Skowroński argues that a democratic society is the basic axiological framework and that Rorty's normative focus is the melioration of democratic society. The novelty of this philosophy is that it pays special attention to discourses, narratives, and story-telling as containing within themselves axiological and normative aspects. This book presents these discourses as a way of constructing and reconstructing social reality, rather than as a means of describing reality from a detached perspective. According to this framework, human activity, well-being, and solidarity with other people should be evoked by us much more than any reference to God, the Truth, or absolute Values. This book is written for anyone with interests in American philosophy, intellectual history, or political philosophy.

Practicing Philosophy as Experiencing Life: Essays on American Pragmatism is a collection of texts written by top international experts on American philosophy. They consider various strands of American pragmatism from the viewpoint of practical philosophy, and provide the historical background and an outline of the international encounter with other philosophical traditions. Many key figures of American thought and pragmatist philosophy are discussed. The volume combines a panorama of approaches and gives a wide scope of problems: ethical, religious, social, political, cultural, ontological, cognitive, anthropological, and others, so as to show that pragmatism can be seen as a philosophy of life and as such it focuses on the life problems of contemporary humans in particular and of humanity in general. Contributors are: Jacquelyn Ann K. Kegley, John Lachs, Sami Pihlström, Krzysztof Piotr Skowroński, Kenneth W. Stikkers, and Emil Višňovský

The book presents five philosophical and axiological studies devoted to the relationship between aesthetics and politics. It shows this relationship throughout the works of some avant-gardists, pragmatists, and postmodernists. It is also a voice in the discussion about the meaning of the fine arts and aesthetics in the context of the political aims and norms. This voice claims that the political dimension of art and aesthetics should be studied much more seriously than it has been till today, and needs more courageous re-interpretations and re-readings.

This collection of essays focuses on the roles that coercion and persuasion should play in contemporary democratic political systems or societies. A number of the authors advocate new approaches to this question, offering various critiques of the dominant classical liberalism views of political justification, freedom, tolerance and the political subject. A major concern is with the conversational character of democracy. Given the problematic and ambiguous status of the many differences present in contemporary society, the authors seek to alert us to the danger, that an emphasis on reasonable consensus will conceal exclusion in practice of some contending positions. The voices of vulnerable peoples can be unconsciously or even deliberately silenced by various institutional processes and operating procedures and a strong media influence can change the tenor of conversations and even lead to deception. To counter these factors, a number of the essays, in differing ways, urge the fostering of local community conversations or democratic agoras so that democratic debate and conversation might maintain the vitality necessary to a strong democratic system.

The present volume encapsulates the contemporary scholarship on John Dewey and shows the place of Dewey's thought on the philosophical arena. The authors are among the leading specialists in the philosophy of John Dewey from universities across the US and in Europe.

This book shows how much and in what sense values are related to powers and powers are related to values in American pragmatism. The proposed re-reading of American pragmatism will facilitate a novel understanding of it as a philosophical movement and, by showing its truly humanistic, democratic, and pro-social character, the stronger impetus for current rethinking of values is being provided.

George Santayana (1863–1952), a Spanish-American philosopher, is an influential personage on the cultural stage in English- and Spanish-speaking countries. His numerous books and papers on topics as varied as epistemology, ontology, aesthetics, ethics, anthropology, value theory, and American studies, along with his best-selling novel, his sophisticated poetry, and his famous autobiography, make him a vivid and profound source of reflection on the history of American and European thought, as well as a stimulus for future work. Santayana's exceptionality was appreciated by William James and Josiah Royce, his most eminent colleagues in Harvard University's Department of Philosophy, and has been discussed by such respected authors as John Dewey, Bertrand Russell, Charles Hartshorne, Eric Voegelin, Alfred Schutz, Richard Rorty, Hilary Putnam, Arthur Danto, and Ferdinand Savater, among others. This book aims to understand Santayana by considering his often provocative views on America. Other scholars have reconstructed his thought at various times and in a variety of ways, but no one has yet considered Santayana's approach toward America in a serious and profound way (at least not in the English language). This book attempts to convince the reader that the impartiality of Santayana's philosophy, its transcendence of cultural limits and mental borders, makes it a living philosophy, and that this is the strongest aspect of Santayana's thought.

Under Any Sky: Contemporary Readings of George Santayana is a testament to the cross-cultural relevance of the work of one of the leading intellectuals of the twentieth century, George Santayana (1863-1952, birth name Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana). A list of geographic origins of the twenty-two contributions contained in this volume indicates the transatlantic cultural diversity of scholarly representation: scholars variously hailing from Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Slovakia, and Switzerland, and from the United States, representing three of its major regions. The authors explore the major plots of Santayana's thinking, including materialistic Platonism in ontology, skepticism in epistemology, rationality in social philosophy, naturalism in aesthetics, piety in materialism, and literary and poetic expression as a means to cosmic understanding. After a preface by Professor John Lachs (also a contributor), and an editorial introduction, the book is divided into three respective thematic parts: I. Ontology and Naturalism; II. Culture, Society, America; and III. Aesthetics, Poetry, and Spirit. Before each thematic section brief introductions of the section papers is provided to accommodate specific scholarly interests. The authors entrust the present volume to readers appreciative of the philosophic catholicity of the subject's work, invoking the book title which is taken from the preface of Santayana's mature system of philosophy, Scepticism and Animal Faith:'In the past or in the future, my language and my borrowed knowledge would have been different, but under whatever sky I had been born, since it is the same sky, I should have had the same philosophy'