Pragmatism in Law and Society

This work addresses the question: "What constructive role can pragmatism play, either in structuring public debate or in dealing with life?". Social thinkers in the Deweyan pragmatist tradition have always been optmistic about the prospect of social progress. The recent pragmatist revival however has tended to emphasize the destructive side of pragmatism: that truth is not absolute and that there are no foundations or even a privileged standpoint from which to theorize. The contributors to the book examine what pragmatism can offer in the way of a positive social programme in the field of law, literature, philosophy and political science.