The Present Placeand Purpose of American Philosophy

Abstract

American Philosophy has experienced a re-vitalization in the last 25 years. It has becomes  popular that it is sometimes appropriated by people who are not really familiar with the tradition at all. On the other hand, it is being utilized by many in new and exciting ways.This paper points to some of the ways American philosophy has been a public lengaged tradition and argues that it should remains oif we care about the future of democracy. It then suggests that some of the possibly emerging themes that the tradition needs to wrestle with in the 21st century are conceptions of boundary and place, pluralism and agency, and fallibilism and hope.