Feminism and Pragmatism

Abstract

A philosophic tradition makes its mark through the growth and exten sion of the vocabulary it develops, the categories it articulates, the distinc tions it illuminates, and the connections it draws. The power of a philosophical tradition is revealed in the recurrence of its problems and themes, the fecundity of its methods, the durability of its structures and in sights. It may be that such power is shown not by generating academic ap proval and attention, but (on the model of Dewey's discussion of the reflex arc as circuit2) by a tradition's ability to reconstruct: through persistent in quiry to create the conditions for its own relevance; by its discoveries to open the way to its own rediscovery. Rediscovery in this sense may be recognized by the emergence, after a period of eclipse, of: a vocabulary, a set of categories, a concern with particular distinctions and connections, a focus on problems and a development of themes which had been previously articulated in a powerful philosophic tradition. I shall argue that this emergence may be viewed as even if those articulating the new positions are unaware of their direct or indirect debt to the earlier tradi tion; and I shall argue that just such a rediscovery of the American Tradi tion is apparent in the work of contemporary feminist philosophers. I am all too aware of the problems inherent in the approach I have sug gested: neither the Classic Tradition in American Philosophy nor Feminist Philosophy can reasonably be treated as undifferentiated wholes. Further, it is now a commonplace to group feminist philosophers according to the affinity of particular theories to the commitments, assump tions, and principles of the philosophic traditions out of which they more or-less self-consciously emerge: i.e., feminists are identified as liberal, Marxist, Socialist, radical, existentialist, psychoanalytic, or post-structur alist, among others.3 The standard feminist texts do not yet label a group as Pragmatiste or Classic American Traditionalists, although important work along these lines is beginning to appear in print.4 The rediscovery I wish to examine here goes beyond the obvious sort. Some fruitful claims may be made involving three thematic concerns: the problematizing of experience, the privileging of reason, and the con ception of philosophy. For each theme, I shall look at the way particular feminists have raised, addressed, and developed that theme?and at the way