Democracy, Difference, and Reconstruction: Religion, Theology, and the Spirit of Pragmatism

Democracy, Difference, and Reconstruction: Religion,Theology, and the Spirit of Pragmatism

Ronald Neal*Wake Forest University

Abstract

This essay is an outline of the most salient themes in American pragmatism. It seeks to flesh outthose themes in relation to theology and religion. In doing so it stresses the reconstructive anddemocratic character of pragmatic thought and the manner in which they are expressed through avariety of pragmatic voices. This essay provides a general sketch of the origins and developmentof American pragmatism. It offers an overview of the pragmatic worldview. It identifies selectrepresentatives and expressions of pragmatic thinking. And it lays out the enduring challenges topragmatism as a philosophical disposition and ethical practice. Overall, this essay offers a broadsurvey of pragmatic thinking since its emergence after the Civil War. It stresses the significantshifts which it has undertaken during in its short history. By giving attention to matters of race,religious pluralism, and changing contexts, this essay treats pragmatism as an intellectual and ethicalimpulse that is committed to human progress. Democracy, difference, and reconstruction are atthe center of its efforts to improve our world.

Nearly 3 years after being elected America’s first African American president, BarackObama came under sharp scrutiny by American progressives. After garnering support fora progressive and democratic vision which crossed the lines of race, class, ethnicity,gender, and political ideology, Obama became increasingly seen as a tragic symbol.Concerned with the economic priorities of his administration, progressives cautiouslyexpressed their disdain for the president’s policy agenda. Chief among his critics are Afri-can American liberals and leftists who have roundly criticized him for betraying the presi-dential expectations and progressive vision which he promoted on his road to the OvalOffice. One of his most vocal and public African American critics is, Princeton philoso-pher, Cornel West.1 West charged the Obama administration with privileging, throughits policy initiatives, the interests of the nation’s wealthiest citizens. By appealing toAmerica’s ‘‘deep democratic tradition,’’ West argued that the vast majority of Americans,especially the least privileged citizens, were being ignored by the president’s administra-tive directives. As a self- described radical democrat and prophetic Christian, West hasbeen relentless in his public chastisement of President Barack Obama. As this essay isbeing written, he remains a staunch public critic of the president, despite the cautions offellow progressives who view his critique of the Obama administration as misguided anddivisive.

Since the 1980s, Cornel West has been one of the most public and prolific philoso-phers in America. He is the most recognizable representative of American pragmatism, aNorth American philosophical movement that is closely aligned with America’sdemocratic tradition. In his work as a pragmatic intellectual, West has attempted toembody the best of the past and present of pragmatist thought. As an African Americanpublic philosopher and Christian thinker, West has written extensively on the themes ofdemocracy, difference and social reconstruction, the most salient values in pragmatist

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philosophy. As an heir and student of the legacy of John Dewey, one of the principalarchitects of American pragmatism, West symbolizes the most recent innovations thathave taken place among pragmatist intellectuals since Dewey’s time. These philosophicalshifts, which are connected to race, class, gender, and religious pluralism, are directlyrelated to the changed and changing face of America; an America that is significantlydifferent today (as symbolized by its first African American U.S. President) than it was acentury ago when pragmatism was in its infancy. In this review of religion, theology, andpragmatism today, the most recent changes in pragmatist philosophy will be delineated inlight of the history of pragmatism.

What is Pragmatism?

American pragmatism is a philosophical movement which is closely identified with theparticularities of American civilization.2 As a movement in American history and culture,it represents more of a disposition than a body of thought; it is reflective of and con-nected to the emergence and development of modern America. A very young tradition,American pragmatism is less than one hundred and fifty years old. Rising out of the after-math of the Civil War, it sought to overcome and transcend the totalitarian beliefs andpractices that led to The War between the States, ideas and human actions that supportedthe institution of slavery and thwarted the full realization of democracy in America. Prag-matism emerged as a philosophical tradition whose sole purpose was to offset tyrannicalforces in American life. Driven by a democratic impulse, pragmatists forwarded a visionof America marked by the virtue of plurality or difference. Committed to fervid relativ-ism and an optimistic belief in the realization of democracy in America pragmatistsengaged in a reconstruction of American civilization. The reconstructive spirit of pragma-tism would affect and have serious implications for vast sections of American life includ-ing, politics, law, religion, theology, education and business. Engaged in a reconstructiveprogram in philosophy and human practices, pragmatism would come to be seen asuniquely American enterprise.

Three principal thinkers comprise the trinity of pragmatic thinking in America: CharlesSanders Pierce, William James, and John Dewey. Known as classical pragmatists, thesethinkers created a blueprint for pragmatic philosophy in America. They forwarded themesand ideas that would characterize pragmatism, conceptual frameworks that would informsubsequent waves and generations of pragmatic intellectuals. Of these three thinkers, JohnDewey stands out as the most comprehensive and influential (see footnote 2). He isresponsible for popularizing pragmatism as a method of inquiry and cultural practice.Although Charles Sanders Pierce and William James are indispensible for understandingand engaging pragmatism, Dewey is responsible for the subsequent maturation of pragma-tism. And as we shall see, his impact is evident among the most influential expressions ofpragmatic thinking today. This includes the pragmatic outlook of Cornel West whichbegan this essay. Moreover, Dewey is very important with respect to the theological andreligious concerns of this essay. To grasp Dewey’s importance for understanding pragma-tism, especially its significance for the reconstruction of thought, consider a passage fromone of his most influential texts, Democracy and Education. (Dewey 1944) Here, the char-acter and reconstructive spirit of pragmatism is articulated in relation to education.Although it is specific to education, the style of thinking has implications for theologyand religion.

The reconstruction of philosophy, of education, of social ideals and methods thus gohand in hand. If there is a special need of educational reconstruction at the present time,

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if this need makes urgent a reconsideration of the basic ideas of traditional philosophicsystems, it is because of the thorough going change in social life accompanying theadvance of science, the industrial revolution, and the development of democracy. Suchpractical changes cannot take place without demanding an educational reformation tomeet them, and without leading men to ask what ideas and ideals are implicit in thesesocial changes, and what revisions they require of the ideas and ideals inherited fromolder and unlike cultures (Dewey 1944, p. 331).

For John Dewey, an important correlation exists between philosophy and socialchange; that the merits of a philosophy or a philosophical system are determined its abil-ity to weather and address changing contexts. Social change, which includes advances intechnology, changes in social organization, the movement of populations, and the move-ment of capital, can create a cleavage between philosophy and context. The philosophicalchallenge is to change or reconstruct philosophy in ways that adequately address suchchange. Such changes in philosophy are not done haphazardly. They are undertakenaccording to pragmatic principles. For Dewey, the overarching principle that regulateschange is democracy. For subsequent generations of pragmatists, terms related to democ-racy such as plurality and difference would be employed to articulate pragmatic perspec-tives.

Because pragmatists are driven by a democratic spirit and promote the virtue of differ-ence, the range of pragmatic thinking is far from monolithic, comprising a variety of per-spectives, themes, and concerns. Some pragmatists focus on experience, some on history,some on nature, some on science, some on democracy, and a good few on religion.3

Also, in its commitment to democracy and difference, it is distinguished by its departurefrom the dominant Western philosophical tradition, particularly those canons of Westernphilosophy which are preoccupied with metaphysical and epistemology concerns. In con-trast to the dominant tradition, pragmatism is distinguished by its emphasis on social ideasand human actions.

Knowledge, Reality, and History

The value of reconstruction in pragmatist philosophy is inextricably bound to pragmaticviews of knowledge, reality, and history. Pragmatists hold views regarding knowledge,reality, and history that nurture and promote the value of philosophical reconstruction.These views stand in opposition to the dominant views of knowledge, reality, and historythat have characterized philosophy in the West. With its roots in platonic philosophy andits maturation in the Enlightenment, the dominant metaphysical and epistemologicaltradition in the West or the rationalist tradition, view promotes an outlook on knowl-edge, reality, and history that is objectivist or universal in nature. In its opposition to thedominant tradition, the pragmatist view is one that revels in relativity. Its focus is on theconcrete and specific.

TIME, SPACE, TRUTH, AND KNOWLEDGE

For pragmatists, fixed views about the nature of the world and absolute claims regardingthe nature of truth and knowledge, including knowledge and belief connected to reli-gion, are held suspect and regarded as impediments to growth. For pragmatists, all humanclaims regarding the order of nature, the structure of human existence, and claims totruth, including beliefs and convictions, are fragile and tenuous. Imbued with the spirit ofnatural science, pragmatic modes of inquiry are empirical in nature. In fact, the classical

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pragmatists were staunch empiricists. The empirical method, with its focus on experimen-talism, reality testing, and verification, drove the thinking of Pierce, James, and Dewey.Because of its association with speculative metaphysics and its penchant toward dogma-tism and unquestioned confessionalism, religion was kept at bay as a worldview and guidefor life. Religion was regarded as a fundamentally otherworldly enterprise which wasinsufficient for engaging the present world. By and large, pragmatists came to focus onthe fallible character of human knowing; that certainty in thinking is not beneficial forhuman flourishing. That one can gain more traction by turning away from metaphysicalthinking and epistemology is one of the tenets of pragmatic thought.4.

Because of its epistemological and metaphysical skepticism, pragmatic philosophy hasan aversion toward speculative thinking and utopian impulses that have no ground inhistory. The subject of much criticism, this critique of speculation and utopia has beenjuxtaposed against religious and political paradigms, traditional Christianity and Marxism,which possess speculative and utopian elements.5 In contrast to these paradigms whichpromote ultimate ends – a vision of the kingdom of God or a classless society, pragma-tism offers no vision of an ideal society or a set of human arrangements that is devoid ofpain, suffering, and evil. The quest for democratic social arrangements in the here andnow is the most that it seeks to achieve by way of social advancement.

In a word, pragmatists have an aversion towards speculative and utopian thinkingbecause such thinking is vulnerable to totalitarian manipulation. The pursuit of a King-dom of God or a classless society is in general promoted in a tyrannical fashion, where auniversal and singular end state is extolled as a final state of affairs. In general, this finalstate of affairs if often promoted and located in the perspective of a monarch or dictator,a single individual. Pragmatism in its concerns for democracy resists this kind of tyranny.In contrast to universalism, the reign of monarchs and dictators, pragmatists revel in plu-rality or fervid relativism. As champions of plurality, pragmatists oppose all forms of abso-lutism in philosophy, religion, and human conduct.

In its commitment to empiricism, pragmatism is concerned with tangible goods andattainable goals. Such goods require a focus on concrete and specific ends. It seeks totranscend unnecessary abstraction. From a pragmatic perspective, speculation and utopian-ism in philosophy and human conduct stand as impediments to life and progress in thisworld. Pragmatism as characterized by John Dewey affirms that democracy, in all of itsforms, can be attained in America. In fact, for pragmatist such as John Dewey theachievement of democracy in America was regarded is an immediate demand, requiringno long term program of implementation. Hence the urgency of democracy is a constitu-tive feature of the empirical commitment of pragmatist philosophy.

The demand for the present in pragmatist thought means taking the past seriously. Inorder to live fully in the present one must recognize how the present is connected to yetdifferent from the past; that civilization does not exist in a vacuum. There are precedentsfor human institutions, beliefs, and practices. However, when appropriated uncriticallysuch precedents can stand as barriers to human progress in the present. Old ideas andpractices can stand as impediments to innovation; they can thwart the emergence of newideas, practices, and institutions. Overall, the pragmatist concern with history is a way ofpolicing metaphysical ideas and extravagant claims regarding truth and knowledge.6

The Democratization of Religion and Theology

For the most part, the pragmatist quest for democracy and its view of knowledge andtruth is secular in character. As a secular enterprise, the pursuit of knowledge and truth is

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independent of religious authority. Religious authority by way of custom, habit, tradition,and text are not definitive where knowledge and truth are concerned. Secular rationalityposits that the pursuit of knowledge and truth has no ultimate end. In a word, secularreason is understood as being integral to the hopes of pragmatism. Although this secularimpulse characterizes pragmatism, the spirit and methodological import of pragmatism hasnot been lost on theology and religion. The fervid secularism in pragmatism has hadserious implication for religious intellectuals, theologians and scholars of religion who seevalue in pragmatic thinking. Consequently, it has led to a reconstructive spirit in theologyand religion among pragmatists who work in such arenas. Although the hopes of pragma-tism are fundamentally secular in character, for some religious thinkers, particularly theo-logians, pragmatic secularism is regarded as an aid to faith rather than its negation. Out ofa desire to democratizes and secularize religious faith, early to mid-20th century religiousthinkers such as Douglas Clyde McIntosh and H. Richard Niebuhr sought to apply prag-matic concerns to theology and religion.7 Pragmatic thinking was treated as a means ofmodernizing theology and religion; to remove the metaphysical and epistemologicalimpediments from theology and religion without eliminating their most vital elements; tomaintain those creative and vibrant aspects of religion. In a word, these thinkers engagedin a pragmatic reconstruction of theology and religion.

In the reconstruction of theology and religion, religious and theological pragmatiststook seriously pragmatist concerns about the contextual nature of knowledge and reality.This means acknowledging the historically conditioned character of religion and theology.Contextualizing religious beliefs and practices historically, historicism, would be key toredefining how religion is understood and to changing the very nature of theology. Asfar as theology is concerned, historicism would become one of the defining features ofliberal and progressive theology.

Overall, the reconstructive approach to theology characterizes liberal and progressivetheology. Beginning with the emergence of liberal theology during the late 19th century,evolving with the Chicago School of Religion and theology during the early 20th cen-tury and culminating with the rise of liberation theologies during the late 1960s, a histori-cizing approach to theology, has impacted the styles, forms and content of theology. Aneffort to engage in theology in a specific and concrete way without the impediment ofmetaphysics has characterizes the social gospel movement, the work of Christian realists,feminist theology, and black liberation theology. All of these schools of theology, in theirown specific way, attempt to transcend the dominant inheritance of theology (see foot-note 7). They’ve sought to go beyond traditional understanding of Christianity, especiallyas they pertain to justice.8

THE PRAGMATIC ETHICS OF LIBERAL RELIGION

Like philosophical pragmatism, liberal theology is an experiment in ideas and social prac-tices. As an intellectual and ethical experiment, it reorients the very nature of theologyby moving it beyond parochial and confessional concerns to a full engagement of societyand culture. Through pragmatic and historicist reconstruction, theology is transformedinto a mode cultural criticism, whose ends are fundamentally ethical and political. To thisend, liberal and pragmatic theology is driven by a demand for social change.

At the level of social action, the liberal and theological imperative to change the worldwas personified through the clergy led civil rights movement whose chief representativewas Martin Luther King, Jr. Martin Luther King, Jr. embodied the pragmatic and recon-structive ends of theological liberalism. His outlook and approach to theology and



religion in general was ethical and political in nature. With Martin Luther King, Jr. aspragmatic exemplar, the goal of liberal theology is to make theology public and to pro-duce theological actors who would perform as agents of social change. Such changeagents or ‘‘public theologians’’ would operate like John Dewey, their secular counterpart,articulating theological perspectives that will address, ‘‘the public and its problems.’’ Inthis respect, a traditional theological end, such as the Kingdom of God, is replaced bysocial goals that are democratic in character. In pragmatic terms, theology is understoodas an advocate of democracy. Overall, theology exists apart from its clerical and ecclesias-tical functions. In its pragmatic construction and public function, liberal theology is regu-lated not by traditional religious norms but by pragmatic criteria. As such, it becomessubject to the same mechanisms of scrutiny that governs other the domains of knowledgeproduction. The paradigmatic domain that is instructive for how knowledge should beregulated is natural science.

The Politics of Difference, Religious Thought, and Social Hope

Beyond its impact on theological thinking, pragmatism has impacted religious thinkerswhose work is not conditioned by theological concerns. For such thinkers, matters ofrace, class, gender, culture and the plurality of religions figure prominently in their prag-matic outlook on religion. Their pragmatic perspectives are part and parcel of the dra-matic changes that took place in American culture during the 1960s and 1970s.

The late 1960s represented a watershed moment and turning point in American historywhich had serious implications for pragmatic philosophy. This era gave new life andmeaning to the nature and scope of pragmatist philosophy.9 Prior to the 1960s, pragma-tism was a predominately white and majority male philosophical enterprise. After the1960s, the face and meaning of pragmatism changed. The Civil Rights movement, themovement for women’s liberation, the sexual revolution, and unprecedented changes inthe American economy added new vitality and subject matter to pragmatist discourse.The rising aspirations and elevated expectations of America’s minority class cast new lighton the most salient themes within pragmatist thought. Pragmatist themes such as democ-racy, difference, relativity, community, truth, contingency, community, historicity, andbetterment were interpreted anew as subjugated groups made greater claims on theproject of American democracy. Overall, the presence of embattled minorities intensifiedthe demand and optimism toward social improvement that has characterized pragmatismsince John Dewey. In fact, such minorities would build upon and go beyond the coreconcerns of Dewey’s work.

DEMOCRACY AND DIFFERENCE

Although the cultural and political ferment of the late 1960s created new challenges andopportunities for pragmatists, it was during the late 1980s and 1990s that embattledminorities emerged as significant contributors to pragmatic philosophy. By marrying thelegacy of the classical pragmatists, especially the work of John Dewey, with concernsabout race, class, and gender new proposals emerged which new vitality and greaterurgency to the democratic hopes that characterize pragmatic thinking. Among the mostprolific and influential of these embattled minorities is Cornel West, whose work as apragmatic philosopher opened this essay. Working in African American studies andreligion, West is a staunch Deweyan pragmatist, who has built on the democratic andreconstructive spirit that was characteristic of Dewey’s work (see Rorty 1999). In this

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manner, he has deepened Deweyan democracy and pragmatic values by marrying thetwo with one of America’s most entrenched social dilemmas, race. West has sought togive more political substance and moral depth to the pragmatist project by using race asone litmus test (among many) of pragmatist hopes. As far as pragmatisms’ aversion ofabstract thinking is concerned, one cannot get any more concrete than the fact of race inAmerican life. Race has remained the chief test for difference and democracy in the Uni-ted States. Because race has been such an impediment to the American experiment, callsfor democracy alone are not sufficient. For West, a particular kind of democracy isneeded to address the fact of race in America. According to West, the kind of democracythat is needed must be radical in nature. Hence radical democracy is vision of democracythat is concerned injustice, race being one form of injustice which its addresses. Radicaldemocracy is part and parcel of the pragmatic vision that West pursues which he callsprophetic pragmatism.

Unlike the secular pragmatists who preceded him and similar to theological pragmatists,West’s pragmatism is connected to the prophetic tradition of Christianity. More specifi-cally, it is connected to the prophetic Christian impulse of the Black Church. West’svision is outlined in The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism (1989).West’s prophetic pragmatism is the result of a robust exchange between prophetic Christian-ity and the Marxist tradition. It is a running conversation between Deweyan pragmatismor Deweyan democracy and theologies of liberation. Theologies of liberation, whichemerged during the late 1960s, served as the background conditions for West’s conceptu-alization of prophetic pragmatism. Theologies of black liberation, women’s liberation,and the liberation of oppressed populations worldwide articulated an urgent demand forjustice that was informed by Marxist social theory. Similar to the social gospel movement,prophetic pragmatism is driven by a demand for justice.

RACE AND THE RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCE

Not only do concerns about race widen the scope of pragmatic inquiry, especially at thelevel of difference, concerns about the plurality of religious experience broaden the con-versation as well. Much of the discourse on religion, theology, and pragmatism focusesexclusively on the Christian tradition. The work of John Dewey and the work of theChicago School constituted a running dialog with the impact of Christianity on Americancultural and intellectual life. However, the realities of non-Christian expressions of reli-gion cannot be dismissed or ignored. When non-Christian expressions of religion arecoupled with concerns regarding race, new layers are added to pragmatist concernsregarding difference. Difference, at the level of race and religion, represent another con-tribution of embattled minorities.

Throughout this essay it has been stressed that pragmatism is not simply a body ofideas, it is a disposition toward the world. One of the markers of the pragmatist philoso-pher is his or her disposition with respect to difference. Such difference has much gravitywhen it is dealt with at the level of race and religion. With the rise of neo-pragmatismafter the 1960s, matters of race and religion were taken up in new and innovative ways.In recent years this has surfaced among African American scholars of religion whosescholarship is conditioned by pragmatic thinking. One such scholar is William D. Hartwhose recent work on race and religious plurality is reflective of the pragmatic dispositionconcerned here. In a recent book, Hart takes pragmatism to new heights with respect torace, religion, and difference. His book, Black Religion: Malcolm X, Julius Lester, and JanWillis, is representative in its treatment of difference with respect to the study of religion



Hart (2008). Black Religion is an eclectic and selective study of divergent religious tradi-tions among African Americans. He examines three African American representatives(two men and one woman) of three different religion traditions: Malcolm X (Islam),Julius Lester (Judaism), and Jan Willis (Buddhism). His study is significant because itattends to religious traditions that deviate from the dominant religious traditions inAmerica, which includes the dominant religious tradition among African Americans,Christianity.

By and large Black Religion is an effort to move religious thought beyond its preoccu-pation with Christianity and to do so in light of race. It is an effort to move beyondmonolithic approaches to and conceptions of race and religion. In doing so, it breaksaway from dominant stands of religious scholarship and religious thinking that treat raceand religion in an undifferentiated fashion. Hart’s work is deeply indebted to thenaturalism and democratic spirit of John Dewey. As such, religion and religiosity areunderstood in dynamic, fluid, and processive terms. Hart’s chosen subject matter entailpeople, African Americans, who embrace religious traditions and embody an approachto religion that challenges static and fixed views of religious faith. Each of the represen-tatives in his study was, at one time, adherents of Christian faith. They were born intoChristian families and communities and at a certain points in their adult lives movedfrom the Christian tradition to different religious traditions. Malcolm X moved fromChristianity to Islam, Julius Lester moved from Christianity to Judaism, and Jan Willismigrated from Christianity to Buddhism. Through their transitions they demonstratedthat religious commitment and affiliation are not a priori; that human beings inherit reli-gion and exercise the choice to live out or reject what they have inherited. Humanbeings may also engage in creative endeavors and become religious innovators, pioneer-ing new forms of religious expression. Overall, Hart’s naturalism and democraticapproach to religion has significant implications for the study of race and religion. Thepragmatic study of race and religion valorizes democracy as a principle for such study.In this vein then, racial and religious difference are pragmatic virtues in the study ofreligion.

Endless Reconstruction

At the outset of this essay, pragmatism was defined as a philosophy of reconstruction, onethat is characterized by a spirit of optimism and progress. Pragmatism extolls a robustconviction that human beings can, through creative intelligence, improve themselves andthe world around them. Although such social optimism, which is quite representative ofDeweyan pragmatism, is integral to pragmatist hopes about the future, the progressivehopes of pragmatism must be measured by and endure the test of history. Similar to con-ventional religion, optimism without checks and balances can be very dangerous. Lest itcommits the same mistakes that it charges to religion, the social optimism which charac-terizes pragmatism has to be tempered with social reality.

Since the Reconstruction era, pragmatist thinkers have worked relentlessly to remakeAmerica, to create a civilization governed by the ideal of democracy. Through politics,education, law, philosophy, and religion pragmatists have advanced eclectic visions of dif-ference that would bear positively on America now. Although progressive and optimisticin its outlook, the reconstructive hopes of pragmatism are fraught with an enduring andarduous challenge. The greatest challenge to the pragmatist tradition is persuasive andeducative in nature. Pragmatism is faced with the hard work of cultivating, among theinhabitants of America, pragmatic dispositions. John Dewey’s concerns about democracy

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and education sought to address this very issue. In order for pragmatic hopes to berealized, one must confront, head on, those social impediments which stand in their way.These barriers, which are tied to the persistence of tradition and the brutal facts of humanevil, are constitutive features of an ongoing struggle, a pragmatic struggle.

A good number of pragmatists have taken up the issue of struggle and its relationshipto progress in America. Pragmatists from Sidney Hook to Reinhold Niebuhr to CornelWest and more recently, Eddie Glaude, have taken up this problem in terms of thetragic10. The presence of stubborn forces such as racism, sexism, classism, war, and totali-tarianism has cautioned these pragmatists from resting too comfortably in pragmatism’scastle of optimism. More than a philosophical or theological conviction, all of thesethinkers take seriously the fact that the human experience is fraught with tragedy, thateven pragmatism itself was born in the aftermath of war and the conflict of bodies andideas. In fact, it was the Depression era, WWII and their discontents that prompted Nie-buhr to warn American progressives of the dangers of excessive optimism. It was duringthis time that Niebuhr became a counterpoint to the optimism of John Dewey Niebuhr(1996, 1998). Niebuhr’s early works from Moral Man and Immoral Society to the Natureand Destiny of Man balanced Dewey’s most optimistic works, Democracy and Education andExperience and Nature.

In recent years, the relationship between pragmatism and the tragic has been taken upby Eddie Glaude (2007). As an African American Deweyan pragmatist, Glaude hasattempted to reconcile the most optimistic strands of pragmatism with the facticity ofAmericas’ legacy of race. Similar to Reinhold Niebuhr, Glaude is critical of Dewey’soptimistic creed of progress yet without erasing its good intentions. Dewey, like manyearly 20th century pragmatists did not, at least in his writing, give much attention to race.Although he was one of the founding members of the NAACP, racism, as a public anddemocratic problem, is not a prominent feature in his most influential works, particularlyhis writings on democracy. Glaude deals with this omission and attempts to overcome itby thinking about democracy in light of the legacy of race in America. Glaude’s book, AShade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, which is a signifier of racethrough the genre of the Blues, is a pragmatic effort to grapple with race as tragedy andstruggle. In the end, the task of remaking America is an arduous one that entails struggles.Because democratic achievements are always contested, the task of philosophical and ethi-cal reconstruction is endless.

For the most part, pragmatists like Eddie L. Glaude, who take seriously the realitiesof tragedy and struggle, pursue a vision of democracy which has a robust sense of thereal; that democratic hope must be grounded in the possibilities and limitations of thepresent, especially as it continues to be informed by legacies from the past. The legacyof race is just one example of how the past constrains the present. As a tragic symbol,race taints even the most progressive advances in race relations. Even a grand democraticachievement, filled with democratic possibilities, such as the election of an AfricanAmerican to the U.S. presidency, cannot escape the vestiges of racism. Democratic hopethat is realistic in nature, understands the importance acknowledging the past that isalways present.

DEMOCRACY, DIFFERENCE, AND THE FUTURE

What I have outlined with respect to pragmatism and African American religious thinkersrepresents the promise, challenges, and future of American pragmatism. Propheticpragmatism, race and religious pluralism, and a sense of the tragic are part and parcel of



African American neo-pragmatism. African American neo-pragmatism breathes new lifeand adds deeper meaning to the pragmatic imperatives of democracy, difference, andreconstruction. Unsurprisingly, these values are best illustrated in the concerns that beganthis essay. More than any other symbol of democracy in America, America’s first AfricanAmerican president is a window into the possibilities and limitations of progressivism inAmerica. On the one hand, Barack Obama represents the promise of embattled minori-ties and their contributions to the American project. Where the pragmatist theme ofdifference is concerned, Obama’s biography and life experience which contains elementsthat are African, African American, Euro-American, Muslim, and Christian, deepen thedemocratic tradition in America. One the other hand, the unfulfilled potential of hisdemocratic vision, which has been beset by challenges internal and external to his admin-istration, is indicative of the endless struggle of the democratic ideal. Notwithstanding themanner in which he has disappointed fellow progressive such as Cornel West, BarackObama remains a symbol of social hope within and beyond America. As I write, his pres-idential history is still being written.

Conclusion

Overall, one may define pragmatism as a philosophy of social progress. Pragmatism isdeliberately progressive in its import; it is imbued with and driven by an affirmation ofprogressive social change, progress in knowledge and human actions. The promotion ofcritical intelligence and natural science are at the center of its efforts to better the world.The progressivism that pragmatists employ stands in stark contrast to tradition, inheritedbeliefs and practice that have become institutions over the course of time. Although prag-matism is not inherently opposed to tradition, pragmatists are very critical of the unques-tioned influence of tradition in human affairs, including its expression through religion.For this reason, education, particularly in a Dewyan sense, is a very important moralenterprise. As far as reconstructive philosophy is concerned, education is integral to theprogressive socialization and transformation of society; that the triumph over the uncriti-cal embrace of tradition requires cultivated sentiments on the part of a society’s citizens.If democracy and difference are to be lively values among citizens then such values mustbe nurtured. Because of their socializing function, education, religion, and theology havethe pragmatic challenge of cultivating such sensibilities with the end of achieving greaterdemocracy in America.

Short Biography

Ronald B. Neal holds a PhD in Religion, Ethics, and Culture from Vanderbilt Univer-sity. He is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Religion at Wake ForestUniversity in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His research and writing interestsinclude: religion, gender, and culture, religion, ethics, and politics, modern and post-modern philosophy, Third World Studies, and popular culture. He serves as the chair-person of the Committee on Black Cultures and the Study of Religion, a sectionaldivision of the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion (SECSOR). He isthe author of the forthcoming book, Democracy in 21st Century America: Notes onRace, Class, Religion, and Region (Mercer University Press). He is currently at workon an untitled book on religion, masculinity, and hip hop.

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Notes

* Correspondence address: Ronald Neal, Department of Religion, Wake Forest University, 1834 Wake ForestRoad, Winston-Salem, NC 27106, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

1 For an account of the liberal and leftist critique of President Barack Obama, especially that of Cornel West, seeMelissa Harris Tracewell’s essay, Cornel West v. Barack Obama, in The Nation [Online]. Retrieved on 1 August2011 from: http://www.thenation.com/blog/160725/cornel-west-v-barack-obama.2 For a recent account of pragmatism as an intellectual and social movement see Menand’s (2001).3 For a robust account of the various forms of pragmatism see Dickstein (1998).4 For a classical account of truth, knowledge, and history in pragmatism see Dewey (1984). Also see James (1975).5 For a critique of the anti-utopian elements in pragmatic philosophy see Wood (2000).6 For an in depth account of the role of history in pragmatist thought see Davaney (2006).7 For a thorough treatment of the impact of secular pragmatism on the construction of theology and religion seeAnderson (1998).8 For a thorough account of liberal theology in America see Dorrien (2001, 2003, 2006) three volume work.9 See ‘‘The Cultural Politics of Difference’’ in West (1993).10 See Cornel West’s discussion of ‘‘The Dilemma of the Mid-Century Pragmatic Intellectual’’ in The AmericanEvasion of Philosophy (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989), pp. 112–81.

Works Cited

Anderson, Victor. (1998). Pragmatic Theology: Negotiating the Intersections of an American Philosophy of Religion andPublic Theology. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Davaney, Sheila Greeve. (2006). Historicism: The Once and Future Challenge for Theology. Minneapolis: AugsburgFortress Press.

Dewey, John. (1944). Democracy and Education. Newyork: The Free Press.——. (1984). The Quest for Certainty. Carbondale and Edwardsville: Southern Illinois Press.Dickstein, Morris. (ed.) (1998). The Revival of Pragmatism: New Essays on Social Thought, Law, and Culture. Durham

and London: Duke University Press.Dorrien, Gary. (2001). The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion, 1805–1900. Louisville

and London: Westminster John Knox Press.——. (2003). The Making of American Liberal Theology: Idealism, Realism, and Modernity, 1900–1950. Louisville and

London: Westminster John Knox Press.——. (2006). The Making of American Liberal Theology: Crisis, Irony, and Postmodernity, 1950–2005. Louisville and

London: Westminster John Knox Press.Glaude, Eddie, Jr. (2007). In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America. Chicago and London: The

University of Chicago Press.Hart, William David. (2008). Black Religion: Malcolm X, Julius Lester, and Jan Willis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Press.James, William. (1975). Pragmatism and the Meaning of Truth. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.Menand, Louis. (2001). The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.Niebuhr, Reinhold. (1996). The Nature and Destiny of Man, Vols. 1–2. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.——. (1998). Moral Man and Immoral Society. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers.Rorty, Richard. (1999). Philosophy and Social Hope. New York: Penguin Books.West, Cornel. (1989). The American Evasion of Philosophy: A Genealogy of Pragmatism. Madison: The University

of Wisconsin Press.——. (1993). Keeping Faith: Philosophy and Race in America. New York and London: Routledge Press. pp. 3–32.Wood, Mark David. (2000). Cornel West and the Politics of Prophetic Pragmatism. Urbana and Chicago: University

of Illinois Press.

Further Reading

Dewey, John. (1934). A Common Faith. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.Hardwick, Charles D. and Richard, A. (1997). Crosby: Pragmatism, Neo-Pragmatism, and Religion: Conversations with

Richard Rorty. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.Johnson, William Stacy. (ed.) (1996). H. Richard Niebuhr: Theology, History, and Culture. New Haven and London:

Yale University Press.



Rorty, Richard. (1998). Achieving Our Country: Leftist Thought in Twentieth Century America. Cambridge: HarvardUniversity Press.

——. (2008). An Ethics for Today: Finding Common Ground Between Philosophy and Religion. New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press.

West, Cornel. (1999). The Cornel West Reader. New York: Basic Books.——. (2004). Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight against Imperialism. New York: Penguin Books.Yancy, George. (ed.) (2001). Cornel West: A Critical Reader. Malden: Blackwell Publishers.

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