For nearly 40 years Peter Hare stood at the crossroads of contemporary American scholarship. In his roles
as author, critic, and editor, he was responsible for helping to shape the issues that would occupy the attention of leading thinkers. Issue 46:1 of Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society is a memorial symposium in honor of Hare’s impressive career. For the first time in print many of Peter’s closest colleagues reflect on his unique contribution to the history of American thought.
The symposium is highlighted by essays from Charlene Haddock Seigfried (Purdue University), John McDermott (Texas A&M University), and Vincent Colapietro (Penn State University), each of whom discuss Hare’s lengthy engagement with American pragmatism. Having been on the front lines of the revival of interest in William James’s philosophy, all three provide stellar commentary on aspects of Hare’s masterful reading of James.
While many are familiar with Hare’s work in the history of American thought, just as important to him was the task of relating philosophy’s history to its present. Thus, issue 46:1 also addresses Hare’s contribution on numerous contemporary matters. Part holist, part contextualist, the naturalism he fashioned was decisively antireductionist and particularly sensitive to the potential for acquiring wisdom in a diversity of human experiences. Essays by Joseph Margolis (Temple University), John Shook (Center for Inquiry), and John Corcoran (SUNY Buffalo) do well to capture this spirit. Still other essays focus on the pragmatic naturalism that permeated Hare’s philosophical approach, his views on the ethics of belief, the problem of evil, as well as newer views that he was developing at the time of his death.
This symposium is much more than a fitting tribute to Hare’s philosophical legacy. It also indicates exciting research that is being done in the spirit of that legacy by connecting Hare’s work to emerging scholarly trends. As many of its contributors attest, Hare brought a unique perspective to nearly every issue he addressed. At his best he was an original thinker and incomparable force for the promotion and dissemination of American pluralism. This issue, then, is an important contribution to the development of these themes.
as author, critic, and editor, he was responsible for helping to shape the issues that would occupy the attention of leading thinkers. Issue 46:1 of Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society is a memorial symposium in honor of Hare’s impressive career. For the first time in print many of Peter’s closest colleagues reflect on his unique contribution to the history of American thought.
The symposium is highlighted by essays from Charlene Haddock Seigfried (Purdue University), John McDermott (Texas A&M University), and Vincent Colapietro (Penn State University), each of whom discuss Hare’s lengthy engagement with American pragmatism. Having been on the front lines of the revival of interest in William James’s philosophy, all three provide stellar commentary on aspects of Hare’s masterful reading of James.
While many are familiar with Hare’s work in the history of American thought, just as important to him was the task of relating philosophy’s history to its present. Thus, issue 46:1 also addresses Hare’s contribution on numerous contemporary matters. Part holist, part contextualist, the naturalism he fashioned was decisively antireductionist and particularly sensitive to the potential for acquiring wisdom in a diversity of human experiences. Essays by Joseph Margolis (Temple University), John Shook (Center for Inquiry), and John Corcoran (SUNY Buffalo) do well to capture this spirit. Still other essays focus on the pragmatic naturalism that permeated Hare’s philosophical approach, his views on the ethics of belief, the problem of evil, as well as newer views that he was developing at the time of his death.
This symposium is much more than a fitting tribute to Hare’s philosophical legacy. It also indicates exciting research that is being done in the spirit of that legacy by connecting Hare’s work to emerging scholarly trends. As many of its contributors attest, Hare brought a unique perspective to nearly every issue he addressed. At his best he was an original thinker and incomparable force for the promotion and dissemination of American pluralism. This issue, then, is an important contribution to the development of these themes.
