Pragmatist and American Philosophical Perspectives on Resilience

The essays in Pragmatist and American Philosophical Perspectives on Resilience offer a survey of the ways that “resilience” is becoming a key concept for understanding our world, as well as providing deeper insight about its specific actual and proposed applications. From climate change preparedness to mental health, resilience has recently emerged as a central focus of a variety of disciplines grounded in theoretical approaches as disparate as environmental philosophy, psychology, safety engineering, political science, and urban planning. As an emerging concept with multiple theoretical and practical meanings, “resilience” promises considerable explanatory power. At the same time, current uses of the concept can be diverse and at times inconsistent. The American philosophical tradition provides tools uniquely suited for clarifying, extending, and applying emerging concepts in more effective and suggestive ways. From cultural figures such as Benjamin Franklin and Wendell Berry to philosophers such as Jane Addams and William James, this collection explores the usefulness of theoretical work in American philosophy and pragmatism to practices in ecology, community, rurality, and psychology.

As species disappear, forests burn, and the climate changes, the quest for resilience has morphed from desirable pursuit to existential struggle. This winning collection is not only a plea to think more deeply about the foundations of our policy goals and community practices; it fittingly also demonstrates the hardiness of the American pragmatist tradition in an era increasingly defined by novel environmental and social challenges. And it shows that, unlike with our forests, farms, and waters, we're still a long way from exhausting our philosophical resources.--Ben Minteer, Arizona State University--Ben Minteer, Parker and Keith have brought together an outstanding collection of scholars, working in the American philosophical tradition to unearth the depths of the idea of resilience, both as a general concept and with a specific focus on the environment. I'm convinced by at least one of the common themes throughout: resilience is an inherently pragmatic idea, and in turn, American Pragmatism contains a repository of tools to help us better understand it. These essays contain important guidance for how resilience can help us in our emerging world of persistent, and--sometimes-- overwhelming change and flux.--Andrew Light, George Mason University

Kelly A. Parker is professor of philosophy, environmental studies, and integrative studies at Grand Valley State University.Heather Keith is executive director of faculty development and professor of philosophy at Radford University.