Joseph Margolis is Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy at Temple University. He has published more than thirty books and is the author, most recently, of Moral Philosophy after 9/11, Selves and Other Texts: The Case for Cultural Realism and What, After All, Is a Work of Art? Lectures in the Philosophy of Art.

"In this often brilliant treatment of the first- and second-wave pragmatists, Joseph Margolis displays a knack for weaving together a complex history and an important contemporary philosophical debate. Margolis's analyses are bold, original, and intellectually exciting. He has succeeded in spinning out a narrative that is both insightful and entertaining."

• Prologue: Reconstruction in pragmatism -- Cartesian realism and the revival of pragmatism -- Richard Rorty : philosophy by other means -- Anticipating Dewey's advantage -- John Dewey : the metaphysics of existence -- Relativism, pragmatism, and realism -- Last word : a touch of prophecy.

Joseph Margolis is Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy at Temple University. He has published more than thirty books and is the author, most recently, of Moral Philosophy after 9/11, Selves and Other Texts: The Case for Cultural Realism and What, After All, Is a Work of Art? Lectures in the Philosophy of Art.

"In this often brilliant treatment of the first- and second-wave pragmatists, Joseph Margolis displays a knack for weaving together a complex history and an important contemporary philosophical debate. Margolis's analyses are bold, original, and intellectually exciting. He has succeeded in spinning out a narrative that is both insightful and entertaining."

• Prologue: Reconstruction in pragmatism -- Cartesian realism and the revival of pragmatism -- Richard Rorty : philosophy by other means -- Anticipating Dewey's advantage -- John Dewey : the metaphysics of existence -- Relativism, pragmatism, and realism -- Last word : a touch of prophecy.

Joseph Margolis is Laura H. Carnell Professor of Philosophy at Temple University. He has published more than thirty books and is the author, most recently, of Moral Philosophy after 9/11, Selves and Other Texts: The Case for Cultural Realism and What, After All, Is a Work of Art? Lectures in the Philosophy of Art.

"In this often brilliant treatment of the first- and second-wave pragmatists, Joseph Margolis displays a knack for weaving together a complex history and an important contemporary philosophical debate. Margolis's analyses are bold, original, and intellectually exciting. He has succeeded in spinning out a narrative that is both insightful and entertaining."

• Prologue: Reconstruction in pragmatism -- Cartesian realism and the revival of pragmatism -- Richard Rorty : philosophy by other means -- Anticipating Dewey's advantage -- John Dewey : the metaphysics of existence -- Relativism, pragmatism, and realism -- Last word : a touch of prophecy.