Problems and Renewal in American Philosophy

Abstract

Time in the Ditch presents evidence that the politics of the McCarthy Era has distorted American philosophy, both institutionally and intellectually, ever since that time. It proposes a new paradigm, “situating reason,” which is free of those distortions. It is neither an account of the new “golden age” of philosophy outside philosophy departments (as Harding wishes) nor a general history of the rise of analytical philosophy (as Hollinger thinks). I defend myself against Cohen's charges of factual error and historical misreading, and explain mycritical views on the way the history of philosophy is generally taught in the U.S.