Robert Roth, among the first few Catholics to write favorably, even if critically, about American pragmatism, presents here a creative piece of comparative philosophy in which he achieves a long-term goal of attempting a reconciliation between pragmatism and a classical spiritual and religious perspective. The title, Radical Pragmatism, is an adaptation of William James's "radical empiricism." James had argues that the classical empiricists, Locke and Hume, did not go far enough in their account of experience. They missed some of its most important aspects, namely connections and relations, and as a result they were left with discrete sense data and sense objects.

This volume contributes to the remarkable resurgence in interest in American pragmatism and its proponents, William James, C.S. Peirce and John Dewey by focusing on the influence of British empiricism, especially the philosophies of Locke and Hume, and the sharp differences between the two traditions. It is Roth's contention that American pragmatism, sometimes called America's first indigenous philosophy, has something significant to say philosophically not only for America, but for the world. Here, the author claims, the lines of development and divergence between British empiricism and American pragmatism have not been sufficiently developed.

Robert Roth, among the first few Catholics to write favorably, even if critically, about American pragmatism, presents here a creative piece of comparative philosophy in which he achieves a long-term goal of attempting a reconciliation between pragmatism and a classical spiritual and religious perspective. The title, Radical Pragmatism, is an adaptation of William James's "radical empiricism." James had argues that the classical empiricists, Locke and Hume, did not go far enough in their account of experience. They missed some of its most important aspects, namely connections and relations, and as a result they were left with discrete sense data and sense objects.