What constitutes American thought is obviously too elusive to be encompassed by any one writer or group of writers. The best that any attempt at intellectual history can achieve is to indicate some of its traces in written records. This volume represents the eff orts of one of America's leading philosophers to do just that. He is uniquely qualified to do so, as his contemporary Sidney Hook well understood.As Cohen noted, most of what people say and write is dominated by linguistic forms or habits. Thus the dominance of the traditions and habits that make up the English language has been the strongest single infl uence in fashioning American thought as very largely a province of British thought - despite the Declaration of Independence and two wars. Cohen describes how American thought developed from its British roots. It deals with reflective thought, i.e. with thought that is conscious of its problems, of its methods and of the widest general bearings of the results obtained so far. The diverse subjects discussed range from religious thinking to the scientific, and from the legal tradition to literary criticism.Among the important figures Cohen assesses are Dewey, Santayana, Holmes, Brandeis, Whitehead, James, and Royce as well as those of men less well-known but sometimes equally influential. In its scope and insight, this book takes its own unique and important place in American thought.

About the Author
Morris Raphael Cohen was a member of the fabled department of philosophy at the City College of New York between 1912 and 1938. He wrote numerous books and articles including A Preface to Logic, A Dreamer's Journey, Reflections of a Wondering Jew, and Law and Social Order. Felix S. Cohen, the son of the author, edited this volume. He was a lawyer and scholar known for his work in legal philosophy and Indian law and policy. He worked in the solicitor's office in the Department of the Interior under Franklin D. Roosevelt and is the author of both The Handbook of Federal Indian Law and Readings in Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy.


Book Information
ISBN 9781412809955
Author Morris Cohen
Format Paperback
Page Count 448
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
Weight(grams) 839g