Henry Samuel Levinson – författare

Henry Levinson offers a major reinterpretation of the Spanish-born American philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952), which highlights his relationship to the tradition of American pragmatism. He shows that Santayana's role in forming the pragmatist tradition was greater than has usually been recognized and that Santayana has much to offer contemporary pragmatists.Levinson puts Santayana at the forefront of pragmatism by emphasizing his reflections on the cultural structures that shape human life and expression. He explores Santayana's interest in solitude and society, his poetic construals of religious thought and ritual, his institutional rendition of pragmatism, and his concern to distinguish spirituality and politics. In doing so, he gives attention to Santayana's precursors, like Ralph Waldo Emerson; to his teachers and colleagues, including William James and Josiah Royce; to other pragmatists of his time, such as John Dewey and Sidney Hook; and to contemporary writers, including Richard Rorty and Milan Kundera.Levinson's book illuminates an area neglected in both American literary history and the history of pragmatism. No other book has so carefully and centrally focused on the development of Santayana's scholarship, and no other author captures the way in which Santayana's concern with spirituality connects his earlier and later works.

In this first detailed examination of <3>Varieties of Religious Experience<1>, Levinson locates James securely in the academic study of religion, demonstrates James's debts to Darwin, and reconstructs the case for the supernatural that James thought so critical to his work. The author discusses the contribution that these religious interests made to James's later work and to the shaping of his theories of pragmatism and radical impericism.A UNC Press Enduring Edition -- UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.

In this first detailed examination of <3>Varieties of Religious Experience<1>, Levinson locates James securely in the academic study of religion, demonstrates James’s debts to Darwin, and reconstructs the case for the supernatural that James thought so critical to his work. The author discusses the contribution that these religious interests made to James’s later work and to the shaping of his theories of pragmatism and radical empiricism.Originally published 1981.A UNC Press Enduring Edition — UNC Press Enduring Editions use the latest in digital technology to make available again books from our distinguished backlist that were previously out of print. These editions are published unaltered from the original, and are presented in affordable paperback formats, bringing readers both historical and cultural value.