Jeffrey Howard | jeffrey-howard.bsky.social

Happy William James Day, friends. The great pragmatist philosopher and father of American psychology was born on this day in 1842. Midway through a re-reading of The Varieties of Religious Experience, I will also spend some time with his letters today. A hagiographic thread.

The older I get, the more I'm convinced that Richard Rorty was largely correct when he said that cruelty is the worst thing that we do

@citizen_sanders @erictweber @SAAPhilosophy @anthonycashio @Brendanjh @Left_Hegelian @elprofesorsilva @ironick @_Thrill_House_ @HaydenSBruce @CrispinSartwell I had a friend send me the flyer the other day for this. Would've been a treat had I been able to make it down to Charlotte for the talk.

@Pinball_Lez The division between Peirce, and well, most pragmatists is increasingly stark to me. The Peircean tradition is far more realist (Talisse/Misak/etc.), whereas I've found that most "pragmatists" I encounter lean toward nominalism.

@Jeffrey_Howard_ Yes, definitely, but it is mainly about realism vs nominalism. As a Peircean, I am a scholastic realist in that for me generals/universals/laws are real (even if they do not exist). I think James and Dewey were of a more nominalist bent?

A pragmatist is MANY things but in this historical moment I take a pragmatist to be a person that puts the following orientations into daily practice: Fallibilism Pluralism Non-reductive naturalism Anti-foundationalism/essentialism/representationalism Meliorism Holism 1/

@Pinball_Lez There's a bit of a divide among pragmatists WRT realism, no? I think most pragmatists are realist in the sense that they acknowledge there is a world "out there" but many are anti-realists in that there's a general squeamishness about "objective" truth or moral realism, etc.

@Jeffrey_Howard_ Also surely realism???

@threadreaderapp unroll

"Our romantic choices have taken on a new level of individualism as the communal forces that have traditionally shaped our lives have been eroded," writes Anna Nunan. "For better or for worse." erraticus.co/2024/03/05/lov…

In her debut book, poet Melanie Hyo-In Han explores her experiences as a third culture kid. She was interviewed by fellow TCK and Erraticus contributor Iona McHaney Mercellino. erraticus.co/2024/02/20/my-…

@jbenmarshall I'm sorry for your loss, Justin. I thought of you when I finally got around to reading Stoic Pragmatism last year. I'm a bit surprised there wasn't more attention brought to his passing. I haven't been on twitter much this past year, so maybe phil twitter talked about it.

@Jeffrey_Howard_ Oh my God I didn’t hear that he passed. He was my best mentor. After college I got in touch with him and told him I loved pragmatism and he let me audit his Vanderbilt courses for free. My life wouldn’t be the same without him. He will be missed.

It's been a quiet year on Twitter for me, but I'm hoping y'all have a great 2024. If you resonate with John Lachs' approach to pragmatism, or were fortunate enough to be one of his students, then I hope you'll appreciate this one.

Erraticus experienced an increased number of blog posts responding to essay contributions, revealing readers’ eagerness to engage in meaningful dialogue. See who the runners-up and award winners were. -Read "2023 Erraticus Awards Announced." erraticus.co/2024/01/01/202…

@sluffflux "which has any clear meaning" Aye, there's the rub. Wicked problems don't have clear meanings. According to #9, 'clarifying' a problem changes its solution space, and is thus itself a problem. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_pr…

Reflecting on the recent passing of philosopher John Lachs, @Jeffrey_Howard_ takes the opportunity to dig into Lachs' personal philosophy, stoic pragmatism, and why we should be contented with "good enough." ‘Good Enough’: 2023 Year in Review erraticus.co/2023/12/31/goo…

This year's Editors' Choice Award goes to @DonovanIrven for "Your Job and Cancer Are Nothing: Part II." erraticus.co/2023/03/10/you…

Our 2023 Editors' Choice runner-up is "An Ironist Must Learn to Listen Poetically" by @ironick. erraticus.co/2023/04/24/an-…

Our 2023 Readers' Choice Award goes to "On the Something There Is" by @pragmatistrick. erraticus.co/2023/04/17/on-…

@ironick @sluffflux I've definitely missed both of your conversations during my step away from Twitter the past year. Thanks for both of your Erraticus contributions.

@sluffflux You're welcome, and congratulations! Just paying forward all the inspiration I've received from fellow pragmatists on Twitter, especially @Jeffrey_Howard_ . #Pragmatists #TwitterPragmatists

thanks again for the inspiration @ironick !

It's time to announce our 2023 Readers' and Editors' Choice Awards! Stay tuned as we share our winners for this year. To kick things off, our Readers' Choice runner-up is "Why We Won't Ever Arrive at Truth" by @sluffflux. erraticus.co/2023/01/03/why…

🎙️ @Ghost_Image_ with @Jeffrey_Howard_ In an hour, he covers most of what I have to say in my many venues. For me: fascinating to hear the same ideas so condensed! Probably hard going unless you've read & metabolized much of the same material we have. overcast.fm/+kbKwx38c8

@lukeburgis @scott_scharl Thanks very generous praise, my friend (@scott_scharl). I'm happy to chat, and, of course, grab a beer if you find yourself in this corner of Appalachia.

@scott_scharl @Jeffrey_Howard_ I’m here for it. I have friends outside of Asheville. Let’s crack open a beer.

Who would be the best person for me to talk to about the philosophy of William James?