Philosophical Globe Trotter No Rest for Richard Bernstein
The month of May is a busy one for Richard J. Bernstein, Vera List Professor of Philosophy at The New School for Social Research. First, he will be traveling to Spain to give a lecture on May 17 at the Universidad Nacional de Educaciââ„n in Madrid titled “The Contemporary Relevance of John Dewey.” He then will head to the Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha in Toledo to participate in a symposium honoring him, titled The Confines of Democracy: The Social Philosophy of Richard Bernstein.,
At this four-day symposium, distinguished international scholars will explore issues that have been crucially affected by the work of Bernstein, including his attempts to bring together European and American traditions of social philosophy exploring his singular contributions to contemporary debates in Europe notably his work on the Frankfurt School and Hannah Arendt, and finally considering how his work has contributed to intersections between Latin American social philosophy and its European and American counterparts.
Upon returning to the United States, Bernstein will celebrate the publication of his latest book, The Pragmatic Way, in which he argues that many of the most important themes in philosophy during the past 150 years are variations and developments of ideas that were prominent in the classical American pragmatists Charles S. Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and George H Mead.
At this point a vacation is in order, but not for Bernstein. He will be hard at work with co-editor Christopher J. Voparil on his next book due in August, The Rorty Reader, the first comprehensive collection on American philosopher Richard Rorty.