Class Schedule for Fall 2026

This course is an historical survey of American philosophy from the 1890s through the present. The course begins with the hypothesis that a significant strand of the American tradition developed as a philosophy of resistance against ideas inherited from Europe and against a social, political, and economic system whose practices led to oppression through assimilation or exclusion. As a consequence these philosophies share a common interest in the nature of pluralism, agency, and liberation. While the various strands of this tradition of resistance share some concerns and methods, they also differ. John McDermott writes: “Historically considered [the American] tradition was faced with an ever-shifting scene, characterized by widespread geographical, political, and social upheavals. These crises were built into the very continuity of the culture, and it was thereby fitting that basic . . . categories of understanding were transformed. The meaning of the reflective experience is to point precisely to the fact that such a transformation had its basis in the willingness of the culture, over a sustained period of time, to listen to the informing character of experience.” This tradition, while critical of established views and practices, is more focused on reconstruction than deconstruction. Rooted in a desire to understand particular experiences, and imagine ways those experiences could be transformed to make future experiences better or more fulfilling in any number of ways, this is a tradition that holds the problems of the world front and center. We will explore a variety of voices in this tradition, but this course will introduce only a very small portion of the tradition. By focusing on a few major figures and themes, the course may also serve as a starting point for further inquiry into the American tradition and its connection with other philosophical traditions.