We’re #32

Americans like to boast that "we're No. 1." But a careful new study suggests that in quality of life, we rank No. 32. And we're slipping. This study should be a wake-up call. Nick Kristof

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/opinion/america-quality-of-life.html?unlocked_article_code

As Newsroom's Will McAvoy said…

Susan Dieleman

 

What does American philosophy mean to you?

I should note, at the outset, that I consider myself to be a pragmatist philosopher more than an American philosopher—not just because I’m not “American” (I’m Canadian), but also because “American philosophy” is a much more capacious category. Though I do draw from some other traditions within this more capacious category, my primary focus is on pragmatist philosophy, and on the work of Richard Rorty in particular.

When I began my new position at the University of Lethbridge in 2023, the first course I taught was a 3000-level survey of pragmatism. Since I was a new faculty member, I wanted to provide students with an opportunity to ask questions and get to know me a little better. One of the questions asked was something along the lines of “why pragmatism?” My answer to that question, which I have given on other occasions since, was that I like studying pragmatism for the same reasons I like reading fantasy. Pragmatism (at its best) is, for me, the theoretical counterpart of fantasy (at its best). It shows us that things could have been otherwise than they are, and that things still could be otherwise—indeed, could be better—in the future. Both “traditions” or “genres” offer a way to hold disappointment and hope together... https://american-philosophy.org/i-am-an-american-philosopher-susan-dieleman/

WJS Newsletter – William James Society

Spring 2026 Newsletter

President's Message from Dr. Phil Oliver

LISTEN (audio file on Google Docs)

'Tis the season of William James's birth, in 1842.

By an odd twist of coincidence, January 11 happens also to be my wife's birthday. So it's a date I cannot and dare not ever forget.

The late great biographer Robert Richardson, noting the legendary James "family tradition" according to which Emerson blessed infant William, cautioned against attaching either too much or too little import to that mythic connection. It does seem too right to be true, but also too good not to be...

https://wjsociety.org/news/

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