Older Branches of Pragmatic Thought

New York City: The New School for Social Research, City University of New York, New York University, Fordham University

New England: Boston University, Yale University, University of Pennsylvania

Midwest: University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois, University of Texas

Canada: University of Toronto

Newer Branches of Pragmatic Thought
(under construction)

Mid-Atlantic: SUNY at Buffalo, Pennsylvania State University, SUNY at Stony Brook

South: Emory University, Vanderbilt University, Tulane University

Midwest: University of Notre Dame, Southern Illinois University, Saint Louis University

West: University of Oregon, University of Hawaii, University of Washington

New York City Universities

New York City is home to four other universities with long traditions of hospitality to pragmatism. In order of the arrival of a pragmatist on the philosophy staff, they are: The New School for Social Research, City University of New York, New York University, and Fordham University.

Soon after graduating from Harvard in 1908, Horace M. Kallen joined the faculty of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin, joining two other pragmatically-minded colleagues: Max C. Otto and V. T. Thayer. In 1918 he resigned, protesting the university's disdain for academic freedom. In 1919 Kallen was invited to join the faculty founding the New School for Social Research, where he taught until his death in 1974. He was a pioneer in the cultural pluralism and American Zionism movements, and very active in numerous civil rights and civil liberties issues.

Rueben Abel (Ph.D. New School 1952) was a member of the faculty for many years. Graduates include Elizabeth Minnich (Ph.D. New School 1977, professor at Union Institute), and James J. Liszka (Ph.D. New School 1978, professor at University of Alaska, Anchorage).

After Abel's retirement Richard J. Bernstein (Ph.D. Yale 1958) joined the faculty in 1989 and became the representative of pragmatism on the philosophy faculty.

CUNY has been a home to many pragmatists. Joseph Ratner (Ph.D. Columbia 1929) taught at City College from 1922-1924 and from 1930 into the 1940s. Milton K. Munitz (Ph.D. Columbia University 1939) taught at City College in the early 1940s before joining the faculty of New York University. In 1933 City College welcomed Philip P. Wiener (Ph.D. University of Southern California at Berkeley 1931, professor at City College, CUNY), followed in 1934 by Abraham Edel (Ph.D. Columbia University 1934, professor at City College, CUNY; presently Research Professor at University of Pennsylvania). Subsequently joining them was H. Standish Thayer (Ph.D. Columbia University 1952, professor at City College, CUNY).

Two other colleges of CUNY have been home to pragmatists. Ralph Sleeper (Ph.D. Columbia University 1956) taught at Queens College for three decades, as did Eugene Fontinell (Ph.D. Fordham University 1957), Peter T. Manicas (Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo 1963, presently professor of sociology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa), and Gerald E. Myers (Ph.D. Brown University 1954). Additionally, John J. McDermott (Ph.D. Fordham 1959, presently at Texas A&M University) was a member of the faculty in the 1960s and 1970s. Brooklyn College has recently seen the retirement of Gertrude Ezorsky (Ph.D. New York University 1961), Beth J. Singer (Ph.D. Columbia University 1967), and Mary Wiseman (Ph.D. Columbia University 1974).

There are presently no pragmatists on the philosophy faculty of any of the four main colleges of CUNY, although courses on American philosophy are occasionally taught, recently by Steven Cahn (Ph.D. Columbia 1966).

Sidney Hook (Ph.D. Columbia 1927) joined New York University as an Instructor in 1927. From 1948 until his retirement in 1969 Hook was the Head of the Philosophy Department, and he was Emeritus Professor at NYU until his death in 1989. Milton K. Munitz (Ph.D. Columbia University 1939) also taught American philosophy at NYU for decades. Many pragmatists began their graduate studies under Hook, with some transferring to obtain the Ph.D. at Columbia University. Among those who graduated from NYU working on pragmatism are Gertrude Ezorsky (Ph.D. NYU 1961, professor at Brooklyn College, City University of New York), Richard Gale (Ph.D. NYU 1961, professor at University of Pittsburgh), Bruce Wilshire (Ph.D. NYU 1966, professor at Rutgers University), and Joseph L. Esposito (Ph.D. NYU 1970, professor at Bradley University and Texas Tech University).

Pragmatism has not been consistently offered at the graduate level for some time.

American philosophy and pragmatism has been taught at Fordham University for many decades, as evidenced by the department's periodic production of graduates working in pragmatism. These include Gertrude A. Trageser (Ph.D. Fordham 1934); Mary L. Brady (Ph.D. Fordham 1945); Beatrice H. Zedler (Ph.D. Fordham 1947, professor at Marquette University), Eugene Fontinell (Ph.D. Fordham 1957, professor at Queens College, CUNY); John J. McDermott (Ph.D. Fordham 1959, professor at Queens College, CUNY and Texas A&M University); and Robert M. Barry (Ph.D. Fordham 1963, professor at Loyola University, Chicago).

In the 1960s three pragmatists joined the faculty: Anton E. Donoso (Ph.D. University of Toronto 1960, who later went to the University of Detroit), Robert J. Roth (Ph.D. Fordham 1961), and Vincent Potter (Ph.D. Yale 1965). They inaugurated a solid tradition of producing numerous graduates working in pragmatism. Graduates include Peter T. Turley (Ph.D. Fordham 1967, professor at Georgetown University), Paul Nagy (Ph.D. Fordham 1968, professor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis), William J. Gavin (Ph.D. Fordham 1970, professor at University of Southern Maine), Elizabeth Kraus (Ph.D. Fordham 1970, professor at Fordham University), James E. Giles (Ph.D. Fordham 1971, professor at Iona College), William Kiernan (Ph.D Fordham 1974, professor at St. Peter's College), Lee T. Oei (Ph.D. Fordham 1974, professor at Saint Francis College), Gerard Vallone (Ph.D Fordham 1979, professor at Pace University), E. Paul Colella (Ph.D. Fordham 1981, professor at Xavier University), Alexander Eodice (Ph.D. Fordham 1987, professor at Iona College), and Kenneth J. Rudnick (Ph.D. Fordham 1990, professor at Gonzaga University and St. John's Seminary College).

Professors who work in pragmatism on the faculty at Fordham currently are Judith Greene (Ph.D. University of Minnesota 1987) and Judith Jones (Ph.D. Emory University 1993).

New England Universities

The tradition of pluralism at Boston University has long nurtured the study of American philosophy in general and pragmatism in particular. While no pragmatist served on the faculty until recent decades, many graduates wrote dissertations on pragmatism, including William W. Shenk (Ph.D. Boston University 1905), Bertram J. Morris (Ph.D. Boston University 1908), George B. Thomas (Ph.D. Boston University 1913), Yu-Shan Han (Ph.D. Boston University 1929), Jannette E. Newhall (Ph.D. Boston University 1931), Edward T. Ramsdell (Ph.D. Boston  University 1932, professor of theology at Vanderbilt University), Sadhu S. Dhami (Ph.D. Boston University 1937), Francis G. Ensley (Ph.D. Boston University 1939), Warren C. Young (Ph.D. Boston University 1946), William J. MacLeod (Ph.D. Boston University 1948, professor at Baldwin-Wallace College).

From the 1950s into the 1970s, faculty members Yeager Hudson and Richard Millard encouraged the study of American philosophy. Graduates working in pragmatism from that time include Ralph L. Ruhlen (Ph.D. Boston University 1959, professor at Baker University), Joseph H. Wellbank (Ph.D. Boston University 1965, professor at Northeastern University), Richard A. DeCesare (Ph.D. Boston University 1968, professor at Massachusetts State College at Fitchburg), and Michael S. Berliner (Ph.D. Boston University 1971, professor at California State University at Northridge, and presently Executive Director of the Ayn Rand Institute).

Leroy Rouner (Ph.D. Columbia University 1961) taught American philosophy from the late 1960s to the early 2000s. Presently, two faculty have American philosophy and pragmatism among their research and teaching interests: Victor Kestenbaum (Ed.D. Rutgers University 1972) and Robert C. Neville (Ph.D. Yale University 1963).

Yale University is second only to Columbia University for producing graduates who have had prominent scholarly careers in pragmatism. Douglas C. Macintosh (Ph.D. University of Chicago 1909) expounded a version of pragmatism as professor of theology and philosophy of religion from 1909 into the 1940s. Yale graduates writing on pragmatism from that time include Herbert P. Patterson (Ph.D. Yale 1913), Albert L. Scales (Ph.D. Yale 1917), Julius S. Bixler (Ph.D. Yale 1924, professor of theology at Harvard University), Eugene T. Adams (Ph.D. Yale 1934), and Henry C. Sprinkle (Ph.D. Yale 1929).

The 1950s brought a renaissance of interest in American philosophy and pragmatism at Yale, when Paul Weiss (Ph.D. Harvard 1929) and John E. Smith (Ph.D. Columbia 1948) joined the department. Their students included Irwin C. Lieb (Ph.D. Yale 1953, professor at University of Texas), Murray G. Murphey (Ph.D. Yale 1954, professor of history at University of Pennsylvania), Andrew Reck (Ph.D. Yale 1954, professor at Tulane University), Richard Rorty (Ph.D. Yale 1956, professor at Princeton, Virginia, and Stanford), Richard J. Bernstein (Ph.D. Yale 1958, professor at The New School for Social Research), Max O. Hocutt (Ph.D. Yale 1960, professor at University of Alabama), Garrett M. Brodsky (Ph.D. Yale 1961, professor at University of Connecticutt), John Lachs (Ph.D. Yale 1961, professor at Vanderbilt University), Donald S. Lee (Ph.D. Yale 1961, professor at Tulane University), Vincent G. Potter (Ph.D. Yale 1965, professor at Fordham University), B. Gresham Riley (Ph.D. Yale 1965, professor at New College, Florida), Gary A. Cook (Ph.D. Yale 1966, professor at Beloit College), F. Wright Neely (Ph.D. Yale 1967, professor at University of Illinois), John K. Roth (Ph.D. Yale 1967, professor at Claremont McKenna College), Peter Limper (Ph.D. Yale 1975, professor at Christian Brothers University), and Peter Ochs (Ph.D. Yale 1980, professor of religion at University of Virginia).

As Emeritus Professor, John E. Smith today remains as the sole representative of American philosophy at Yale University.

The University of Pennsylvania was an early center for the study of American philosophy, due to Edgar A. Singer's interest in the development of modern philosophy and psychology. His student Elizabeth Flower (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1939, professor at Pennsylvania) became one of the foremost experts on American thought. Flower and Murray G. Murphey (Ph.D. Yale University 1954, professor of history at Pennsylvania) authored the two-volume A History of Philosophy in America. Graduates include Sheldon Peterfreund (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1948, professor at Syracuse University), Israel Scheffler (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1952, professor at Harvard University), Sidney Morgenbesser (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1956, professor at Columbia University), and John W. Sweigart, Jr. (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1959, professor at Madison College), Thomas W. Platt (Ph.D. Pennsylvania, 1967, professor at West Chester University), and Robert F. Almeder (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1968, professor at Georgia State University).

Bruce R. Kuklick (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1968, professor of history at Pennsylvania) joined Flower and Murphey to establish an unparalleled combination of philosophical and historical perspectives on American thought. This alliance was enhanced with the later arrival of Flower's husband, Abraham Edel (Ph.D. Columbia University 1934, professor at City College of CUNY) who after retirement in 1973 became Research Professor of Philosophy at Pennsylvania. More recent graduates include Emily P. Michael (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1973, professor at Brooklyn College of CUNY), Vincent L. Luizzi (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1973, professor at Southwest Texas State University), Andrew Feffer (Ph.D. in History at Pennsylvania, professor at Union College), Mark S. Mendell (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1989, professor at Long Island University), and Casey Haskins (Ph.D. Pennsylvania 1989, professor at Purchase College, State University of New York).

Courses in American philosophy have not been offered by the philosophy department for many years.

Midwestern Universities

The University of Wisconsin has long been an important center for the study of pragmatism. Horace M. Kallen (Ph.D. Harvard 1908) taught there from 1911 to 1918, before moving to The New School for Social Research. Max C. Otto (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1911) was a significant defender of pragmatism at Wisconsin from the 1910s to the 1960s. Vivian T. Thayer (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1922) taught a pragmatic philosophy of education for several decades. Two more pragmatists on the faculty from the 1930s into the 1960s were Carl M. Bogholt (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1933) and Horace S. Fries (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1934). Graduates in pragmatism include Stephen L. Ely (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1938), Walker H. Hill (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1938, professor of education at University of Chicago), Francis M. Myers (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1944, professor at University of Denver), Clifford W. Anderberg (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1953, professor at University of Omaha), and Arthur M. Wheeler (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1958, professor at Kent State University).

Another prominent pragmatist from Wisconsin is C. Wright Mills (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1942, professor of sociology at Columbia University). Mills received his M.A. in philosophy at the University of Texas, while George Gentry and David Miller were on the faculty, and wrote his dissertation on "A Sociological Account of Pragmatism" in Wisconsin's sociology department.

Marcus G. Singer (Ph.D. Cornell University 1952) has taught American philosophy and pragmatism at Wisconsin from the 1950s on, and is presently Emeritus Professor. His students include Georges Dicker (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1969, professor at State University of New York College at Brockport), and Ellen Kappy Suckiel (Ph.D. University of Wisconsin 1972, professor at University of California, Santa Cruz).

The University of Illinois has long been a haven for the study of American philosophy and home to many pragmatists. Boyd H. Bode (Ph.D. Cornell 1900) was hired in 1909 and served on the philosophy staff until his move to Ohio State in 1921. Among his graduate students working in pragmatism were Denton L. Geyer (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1914, professor at Chicago Teachers College) and Ethel E. Sabine (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1916, professor at Mills College). Upon Bode's departure, Matthew T. McClure arrived (Ph.D. Columbia 1912), who had been heavily influenced by Dewey. McClure first taught at Tulane University from 1915-1921, and then taught at the University of Illinois from 1921 into the 1950s. Another defender of Deweyan pragmatism, Guy A. Tawney (Ph.D. Leipzig 1896) taught at University of Cincinnati from 1908 to 1930, joined the faculty at University of Illinois in 1930, and retired in 1939. Frederick L. Will (Ph.D. Cornell 1937) promulgated a pragmatic realism at Illinois from 1941 into the 1970s. The tradition of American philosophy was also taught by Arthur E. Murphy (Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley 1925), from 1939-1945.

The most prominent pragmatist at Illinois was Max H. Fisch (Ph.D. Cornell 1930), who joined the department in the 1940s. Graduates from Illinois during this period include Hubert Kessler (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1940), Lawrence L. Haworth (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1952, professor at University of Waterloo), James R. Gardner (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1953), Eugene F. Kaelin (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1954, professor at Florida State University), Manuel M. Davenport (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1957, professor at Texas A&M University), Bernard H. Suits (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1958, professor at University of Waterloo), Joseph Chambliss (Ed.D. University of Illinois 1959, professor of education at Rutgers University), Jack C. Carloye (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1960, professor at Washington State University), Don D. Roberts (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1963, professor at University of Waterloo), Jarrett E. Brock (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1969, professor at San Jose State University), Donald R. Koehn (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1969, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University), Willard M. Miller (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1969, professor at University of Vermont), Richard W. Miller (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1970, professor at University of Missouri, Rolla), David E. Pfeifer (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1971, professor at Principia College), and H. William Davenport (Ph.D. University of Illinois 1977, professor at Western Illinois University).

F. Wright Neely (Ph.D. Yale University 1967) taught American philosophy for many years. Among current faculty, Stephen Wagner (Ph.D. Princeton 1978) includes pragmatism in his research interests.

The tradition of American philosophy was inaugurated at the University of Texas at an early date. Edwin T. Mitchell (Ph.D. University of Chicago 1923) was imbued with the functionalist spirit of pragmatism taught at Chicago. After Mitchell joined the University of Texas faculty in 1923, two more products of Chicago arrived in the early 1930s: George V. Gentry (Ph.D. University of Chicago 1931) and David L. Miller (Ph.D. University of Chicago 1932). During Miller's tenure of leadership in the department, American philosophy prospered. Arthur E. Murphy (Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley 1925) taught from 1958 to 1962. Charles Hartshorne (Ph.D. Harvard 1923) and Irwin C. Lieb (Ph.D. Yale 1953) arrived in the mid-1960s. Among the graduates working in pragmatism were Minor W. Boyer (Ph.D. Texas 1953), Robert E. Robertson (Ph.D. Texas 1953, professor at Ball State University), Wendell T. Howard (Ph.D. Texas 1955, professor at University of Houston), Peter C. Appleby (Ph.D. Texas 1963, professor at University of Utah), Arthur W. Skidmore, III (Ph.D. Texas 1968, professor at University of Kansas), Lucius R. Eastman, Jr. (Ph.D. Texas 1969, professor at San Jose State University), Roger P. Fendrich (Ph.D. Texas 1971, professor at Beloit College), Larry A. Hickman (Ph.D. Texas 1971, professor at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale), Kenneth C. Chandler (Ph.D. Texas 1973, professor at University of Missouri), Michael P. Jones (Ph.D. Texas 1973, professor at Western Carolina University), Roger J. Sullivan (Ph.D. Texas 1973, professor at University of South Carolina), James R. Hamilton (Ph.D. Texas 1974, professor at Kansas State University), and Thomas L. Short (Ph.D. Texas 1974).

Recent graduates include Gregory Fernando Pappas (Ph.D. Texas 1990, professor at Texas A&M University), William H. Gibson (Ph.D. Texas 1994, professor at United States Air Force Academy), William T. Myers (Ph.D. Texas 1996, professor at Birmingham-Southern College), and David L. Hildebrand (Ph.D. Texas 1997, instructor at University of Memphis).

G. Douglas Browning (Ph.D. Texas 1958) taught pragmatism for many years, but he is now retired.

Canadian Universities

The University of Toronto's pluralistic tradition includes American philosophy and pragmatism. George S. Brett taught the history of American philosophy and psychology from the 1920s to 1940s. Toronto's first graduate in pragmatism, Thomas A. Goudge (Ph.D. Toronto 1937) was selected in 1938 by Brett to inauguate the graduate teaching of logic, pragmatism, and positivism. From that time until his retirement in 1976, Goudge was the primary force enlarging the department, and with David Savan (M.A. Harvard 1938), developing its graduates in American philosophy. Among these graduates are Marcus Long (Ph.D. Toronto 1940), Sidney Dillick (Ph.D. Toronto 1942), Frank M. Doan (Ph.D. Toronto 1952, professor at Lakehead University), Robert H. Vingoe (Ph.D. Toronto 1953, professor at Dalhousie University), William J. Huggett (Ph.D. Toronto 1954, professor at University of Toronto at Scarborough), Eric D. McCormack (Ph.D. Toronto 1958), Anton E. Donoso (Ph.D. Toronto 1960, professor at Fordham University and University of Detroit), Donald MacMillan (Ph.D. Toronto 1962), Ignas K. Skrupskelis (Ph.D. Toronto 1967, professor at University of South Carolina), Robert E. Carter (Ph.D. Toronto 1969), and Paul T. O'Leary (Ph.D. Toronto 1973, professor at University of Western Ontario).

Jacqueline Brunning (Ph.D. Toronto 1981) taught pragmatism until recently. Among current faculty at Toronto, Cheryl Misak (D.Phil Oxford University 1988) and Joseph Heath (Ph.D Northwestern) include pragmatism among their interests.

Mid-Atlantic Universities

The State University of New York at Buffalo became a respected pluralistic department under the leadership of Marvin Farber (Ph.D. Harvard 1925). While he was professor of philosophy at Buffalo from 1927 to 1974, Farber encouraged a philosophical environment favorable towards phenomenology, naturalism, and pragmatism. One of his students was Wilfrid Sellars who earned an M.A. in philosophy from Buffalo in 1934. During the philosophy department's dramatic expansion in the 1960s, three additions to the faculty were graduates of Columbia University who all advocated pragmatic naturalism. John Peter Anton (Ph.D. Columbia University 1954) was professor of philosophy from 1962 to 1969. Paul Kurtz (Ph.D. Columbia University 1952) was professor of philosophy from 1965 to 1991, when he founded the Center for Inquiry in Buffalo. Peter H. Hare (Ph.D. Columbia University, 1965) was professor of philosophy from from the late 1960s until retiring in 2001. Joining them was another scholar of naturalism and the history of American philosophy, Edward H. Madden (Ph.D. University of Iowa, 1950), who was professor of philosophy from 1964 to 1980. During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s the University of Buffalo was an outstanding place to study pragmatic naturalism and the history of American philosophy, maintaining the tradition of the Columbia School of Naturalism and Pragmatism. Among Buffalo's graduates are Arnold Berleant (Ph.D. Buffalo 1962, professor at Long Island University), John Lincourt (Ph.D. Buffalo 1972, professor at University of North Carolina at Charlotte), Peter Kauber (Ph.D. Buffalo 1972, professor at Bowling Green University), Lesley Friedman (Ph.D. Buffalo 1994, professor at Lynchburg College), John R. Shook (Ph.D. Buffalo 1994, professor at Oklahoma State University 2000-2006, now Provost and senior research scholar at the Center for Inquiry in Buffalo), and Berit Brogaard (Ph.D. Buffalo 2000, professor at University of Missouri, St. Louis).