Pragmatism : from Peirce to Davidson /

Murphy (1937-1987, Trinity University, San Antonio) has left us a very useful introduction to a movement in modern philosophy that insists that "reality" cannot be neutrally represented or mapped and that no one version of "it" deserves to be privileged over others. Murphy talks mainly of C.S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey, W.V. Quine, and Donald Davidson, but the real final figure in this history is Richard Rorty, a very active campaigner for the movement. Rorty is not only the author of the last work discussed in the text but the editor of this posthumously published volume, for which he provides an introduction and bibliography. Thus, Murphy's effort is clearly no more neutral than any other representation. All the same, except for what is perhaps an excessive reliance on lengthy citations, Murphy did a good job. Highly recommended for advanced undergraduates and up. H. L. Shapiro University of Missouri--St. Louis