American philosophy

American philosophy is the activity, corpus, and tradition of philosophers affiliated with the United States. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that while it lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevertheless be seen as both reflecting and shaping collective American identity over the history of the nation."

The political thinker Thomas Jefferson was among the first philosophers in the early United States and held that the nation was to be a force for good in the world. This idea was carried forward by Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in the 19th century, who developed the philosophy of Transcendentalism. In the 20th century, philosophers like John Dewey and William James developed a uniquely American philosophy known as Pragmatism.

History

American philosophy has a rich and diverse history. With the transcontinental railroad and westward expansion, the ideas of American philosophy spread across the continent.

The 18th and early 19th centuries saw the introduction of Transcendentalism and the thought of philosophers like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. This was followed by the rise of Pragmatism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with philosophers like Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey.

Transcendentalism

Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in the eastern United States. It arose as a reaction to or protest against the general state of intellectualism and spirituality. The doctrine of the Unitarian church as taught at Harvard Divinity School was of particular interest.

Transcendentalists believe in the inherent goodness of people and nature. They believe that society and its institutions—particularly organized religion and political parties—corrupt the purity of the individual.

Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States around 1870. Its origins are often attributed to the philosophers Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey. Pragmatism considers thought as an instrument or tool for prediction, problem solving and action, and rejects the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality.

Contemporary American philosophy

In the 20th century, the work of W. V. O. Quine and Richard Rorty, and later Noam Chomsky, brought analytic philosophy to the fore of American philosophical academia. John Rawls and Robert Nozick led a revival of political philosophy.

See also

• List of American philosophers
• History of philosophy in America
• Pragmatism
• Transcendentalism
• Analytic philosophy