Pragmatism and Democratic Faith (original) (raw)
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Democracy, Difference, and Reconstruction: Religion, Theology, and the Spirit of Pragmatism
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Forging Freedom in W.E.B. Du Bois's Twilight Years: No Deed but Memory, 2023
In this chapter, I chart this change by examining Du Bois within the African American prophetic tradition. I argue that Du Bois’s rhetorical trajectory from advocating voting to his decision to abstain from voting in the 1956 election coincided with his shift from a mission-oriented prophet to a pessimistic one. To demonstrate this shift to a pessimistic prophet, I offer a close reading of his “Why I Won’t Vote” editorial published in 1956. I argue that while Du Bois’s hope in American institutions and the democratic process had waned during this time in his life, he was not hopeless or nihilistic. On the contrary, Du Bois continued to believe in “democracy.” I suggest that it was the use of the lament tradition within this pessimistic prophecy that gave Du Bois hope to keep speaking, writing, and visioning a better day.
CMS 390: Pragmatism and the Democratic Experience Syllabus [Graduate, Fall 2024]
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DEWEYan pragmatism offers alternative theories of mind, seif, and society that challenge the cur¬ rency dominant ideology of the democratie public in the Unites States and elsewhere. By tracing Dewey's thinking to its origin in the essays of Ralph Waldo Emerson we catch a glimpse of what makes democracy somewhat unique in the U.S., for better and worse. We will also see how Dewey appropriated and reconstrueted Emerson to develop his own theory of the democratie public. I will also examine Dewey's response to the "democratie realists", especially Walier Lippmann, who were skeptical of Dewey's democratie ideal. This will provide a distant mirror for reflections on our own era. The paper concludes with some speculations about the future of the democratie public in the U.S. in the age of multinational cooperate capitalism. 1 The descriptions of WFP and WFM are adapted from Johnson (1993, pp. 15-17).
Pragmatism and Social Hope: Deepening Democracy in Global Contexts By Judith M. Green
Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society: A …, 2010
ABSTRACT At the end of her book, Pragmatism and Social Hope, Judith Green asks why one should want to spend time on expanding opportunities for participation in democratic governance (248). The reason, according to her, is a desire that a "deeper rationality of human spirit" would direct decision-making in the world. We are currently captives of economic/military/political rationality, according to her. Only through participatory democracy, or "second-strand democracy" can the spell be broken (195). Although this does not become apparent until one has read a good deal of the book, the author is primarily interested in democratic participation as a way to "deepen" democracy. Yet the (perhaps rhetorically intended) question about why participation is important does not get an unequivocal answer. The feeling that political and economic decision-making is hopelessly tied up with narrow calculative approaches is not new. And the general view that participation and deliberation will enrich approaches to decision-making is often heard. But what kind of participation are we talking about and in what way should ordinary unelected citizens become involved in decision-making? The answers to those questions tend to be vague and Judith Green's book, does not give any clear or convincing answers to them either. This is not to say that Green does not sketch any interesting answers to these main questions. The book is certainly a fresh look at some major topics of democratic theory today and an attempt to integrate democratic theory and pragmatism. And what the book certainly does convey, is a sense of optimism which is wonderfully inspiring to anyone interested in the issues discussed and explored. The first half of Pragmatism and Social Hope is an exploration of selected answers by American thinkers to questions about nationhood, identity, self-respect and hope, where pragmatist thought is nicely mixed in with interesting commentary on Whitman, Baldwin, Dewey and, of course, Richard Rorty. Rorty's work seems to be a great part of the impetus behind the work (as the title already suggests). Rorty's views are (not surprisingly) seen as simultaneously misleading and showing the right way (e.g. 57). In a search for the right pragmatic approach to democracy, his book, Achieving our Country, is thoroughly scrutinized. The notion of "achieving one's country" is further supplemented and expanded: National pride must have a global basis and that means healing reconciliation (39). There is no such thing as achieving a country, one must achieve the world. Pragmatism is in Green's mind the right way to frame inquiry adequately and remove obstacles. Democracy can be articulated as embracing both diversity and common values. It allows that individuality be emphasized and common values celebrated at the same time (14). The "public philosopher" is then a liaison agent who helps address memory and forgiveness, democracy's meaning in crisis and the need for changing habits of feeling, thinking and acting (35). To tackle such issues is crucial, but the problem with Rorty is his "historical amnesia" that equates forgiving with forgetting. The opposite is needed. In order that self-respect can be cultivated on the individual level and national pride on the community level, it is necessary to realize first that one is not better than others and second it is absolutely necessary to find ways of reconciliation with those who have been wronged (47, 84). Forgetting is never an answer. One is tempted to interepret Green's criticism of Rorty as basically coming down to accusing him of being too shallow. Her idea of political reform goes deep: It must go to the bottom of the soul and concern the whole understanding of democracy metaphysically as well as epistemologically, "transforming a whole culture's internal social relations and transactional practices" (73). Thus Rorty simply reiterates stagnated positions of officials who fail to see these metaphysical depths of our choices (79, see also 133). Deep democracy, then, refers to understanding choices in all their dimensions. All that said, however, one cannot but ask whether democracy could become too deep and this Green does not consider. One of the main characteristics of totalitarianism is precisely the metaphysical aspect of choice, with the claim that a superficial...
W.E.B. Du Bois and the Moral Dimensions of US American Democracy
Many of the early American pragmatists, including John Dewey, Horace Kallen, and Jane Addams conceived of a multicultural America as a culturally pluralistic democracy with different ethnic communities bringing their common cultural values, social practices, moral beliefs, and ideals of excellence and human flourishing into conversation with one another, learning from one another, and articulating a shared conception of civic cooperation within deep democracy. W.E.B. Du Bois’s work is precisely about the cultural contributions of African Americans to US American political life. Starting in 1897, in his essay, “The Conservation of the Races”, Du Bois advances a notion of cultural pluralism that predates the classical pragmatist reflections on the nature of a multicultural United States. Du Bois believes that the unique cultural contribution of African Americans consists of a particular understanding, arrived at through their centuries of experience with subordination and marginalization in white supremacist society, about the nature of power and democratic governance in the United States that has the potential to radically shift the direction of American society. I examine two main points in this line of thought. First, Du Bois thinks that we ought not to abandon the notion of race and become a race neutral or colorblind society and instead preserve the notion of races as communities that may possess unique cultural gifts to contribute to the betterment of American democracy. Second, Du Bois thinks that the unique cultural gifts of African Americans have already altered the United States, not just in terms of cultural forms such as jazz or soul food, but in terms of the ethical foundations of US American democracy. Du Bois believes that in their particular pursuit of equality and liberty, African Americans have created a society that is much more moral and democratic than what the Founders intended. More importantly, Du Bois believes their struggle offers a prophetic vision that portends an even more participatory and deliberative United States.