The American Approach to Foreign Policy

This is the first major original study of pragmatism as it relates to foreign policy. The credibility of philosophies of politics and foreign policies rests on the soundness of its intellectual foundations. The public's acceptance of a philosophy depends also on the ability to comprehend its assumptions and tenets. The question raised in this study is whether the public senses instinctively some of the major tenets of pragmatism without grasping the underlying principles on which it rests. If so, how crucial is this weakness in determining the viability of pragmatism as a philosophy on foreign policy?