RTalisse - Robert B. Talisse Associate Professor of Philosophy and Political Science Vanderbilt University

News, etc.
A paper I co-authored with Scott Aikin,"Modus Tonens," is now available in an "online first" version via the journal Argumentation. The paper discusses the argumentative tactic of restating one's interlocutor's position in an incredulous tone of voice.
The book I co-authored with Scott Aikin, Pragmatism: A Guide for the Perplexed (Continuum Books), is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com. The book will be out in November, 2008.
Later this year, there will be a symposium issue of the journal Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society devoted to my book, A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy. The issue will feature critical papers by Matthew Festenstein, Thom Brooks, Rosa Mayorga, Brendan Hogan, and others.
I am the editor of the journal Public Affairs Quarterly.
Selected Publications
I. Authored Books
Democracy and Moral Conflict, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming (2009)
Pragmatism: A Guide for the Perplexed, with Scott Aikin, Continuum Books, in press
A Pragmatist Philosophy of Democracy, Routledge, 2007
Democracy After Liberalism, Routledge, 2005 [Reviews: (1) (2) (3) (4)]
II. Edited Books
The Pragmatic Turn (edited with Scott Aikin), Princeton University Press, forthcoming (2008)
Contemporary Debates in Political Philosophy (edited with Steven Cahn), Pearson, forthcoming (2008)
A Teacher's Life: Essays for Steven Cahn (edited with Maureen Eckert), Lexington Books, forthcoming (2008)
American Philosophy: An Encyclopedia (edited with John Lachs), Routledge, 2008
Aristotle's Politics Today (edited with Lenn Goodman), SUNY Press, 2007 [Review]
Essays in Experimental Logic (edited with D. Micah Hester), Southern Illinois University Press, 2007
Dewey's Logical Theory (edited with D. Micah Hester and Tom Burke), Vanderbilt, 2002
Sidney Hook on Pragmatism, Democracy, and Freedom (edited with Robert Tempio), Prometheus, 2002
III. Articles

"Folk Epistemology and the Justification of Democracy," in Does Truth Matter?, Ronald Tinnevelt and Katia Vanhemelryck, eds., Springer, forthcoming (2009)
"Can Liberals Take Their Own Side in an Argument?," in Living in a Global World, Yvonne Raley and Gerhard Preyer, eds.Routledge, forthcoming (2009)

"Towards A Social Epistemic Comprehensive Liberalism," Episteme, forthcoming (2008)
"Modus Tonens," with Scott Aikin, Argumentation, forthcoming (2008)
"Deweyan Democracy: A Critique," Southwest Philosophy Review, forthcoming (2008)
"Pragmatism and the Cold War," in the Handbook of American Pragmatism, Cheryl Misak (ed.), Oxford University Press, forthcoming (2008)
"Skepticism and the Democratic Ideal," Think 16 (2008): 7-17

"Rockmore on Analytic Pragmatism," with Scott Aikin, Metaphilosophy, 39.2(2008): 155-162
"Getting Duped," with Yvonne Raley, Scientific American Mind, February, 2008
"Kitcher on the Ethics of Inquiry," with Scott Aikin, Journal of Social Philosophy, 38.4(2007): 654-665, with a response by Philip Kitcher, "Reply to Talisse and Aikin"
"Two Democratic Hopes," Contemporary Pragmatism, 4.2(2007): 19-28, with a response by Robert Westbrook

"Why Democrats Need the Virtues," in Aristotle's Politics Today, edited by Lenn Goodman and Robert Talisse, SUNY, 2007
"Democracy and Ignorance," Critical Review 18.4(2007): 453-466
"From Pragmatism to Perfectionism," Philosophy & Social Criticism, 33.3 (2007): 387-406
" Flathman on Pluralism and Liberal Democracy" (Review) Social Theory and Practice 33.1 (2007): 151-158
"Two Forms of the Straw Man," with Scott Aikin, Argumentation , 20.3 (2006): 345-352
" Social Epistemology and the Politics of Omission," Episteme, 2.II (2006): 107-118
"Socratic Citizenship," Philosophy in the Contemporary World (special volume on the contemporary relevance of ancient philosophy), 13.2 (2006): 4-10
"The Mistaken Premise of Political Liberalism," Southwest Philosophy Review, 22.1 (2006): 139-147
"Dilemmas of Public Reason," in The Legacy of John Rawls, Thom Brooks and Fabian Freyenhagen, eds. Continuum Books, 2005
""Deliberative Democracy Defended", Res Publica 11.2 (2005): 185-199
"Liberalism, Pluralism, and Political Justification," Harvard Review of Philosophy , XIII.2 (2005): 57-72
"Stout on Public Reason" (and a "Postscript"), with Caleb Clanton, Soundings LXXXVII.3-4 (2005): 349-368, with a response from Jeffrey Stout
"Deliberativist Responses to Activist Challenges," Philosophy & Social Criticism, 31.4 (2005): 423-444
" Why Pragmatists Cannot be Pluralists," with Scott Aikin, Transactions of the C. S. Peirce Society, with replies from Cheryl Misak, Henry Jackman, Michael Eldridge, and John Lyskaer and Michael Sullivan, XLI.1 (2005): 101-118.
" Still Searching for a Pragmatist Pluralism," with Scott Aikin, Transactions of the C. S. Peirce Society, XLI.1 (2005): 145-160
"Does Public Ignorance Defeat Deliberative Democracy? ," Critical Review, 16.4 (2005): 455-463.
"Dewey's Defense of Democracy ," Free Inquiry, 26.4 (2004): 35-37
"Politics Without Dogmas," in Sidney Hook Reconsidered, Matthew Cotter, ed. Prometheus Books, 2004
"Can Value Pluralists be Comprehensive Liberals? ," Contemporary Political Theory, 3.2(2004): 127-139, with a reply by William Galston
"Towards a Peircean Politics of Inquiry," Transactions of the C. S. Peirce Society, XL.1 (2004):21-38.
"Pragmatism and Deliberative Politics ," Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 18.1 (2004):1-8.
“Problems with Galston’s Liberal Pluralism,” Southwest Philosophy Review 20.1(2004):221-229
"Sidney Hook, Pragmatism and the Communist Party," Transactions of the C. S. Peirce Society, XXXIX.4 (2003):657-661.
"Can Democracy Be a Way of Life?," Transactions of the C. S. Peirce Society, XXXIX.1 (2003): 1-21.
"Rawls on Pluralism and Stability," Critical Review, 15.1&2 (2003): 173-194.
"Teaching Plato's Euthyphro Dialogically," Teaching Philosophy, 26.2 (2003):163-175.
"Plato, Pragmatism, and Democracy,” Hypnos 10.1(2003): 71-84
“Philosophy as Anti-Dogmatism,” in What Is Pragmatism?, Paulo Ghiraldelli Jr., ed. Manole Publishing, Brazil (2003 )
"The Relevance of Sidney Hook Today," Free Inquiry, 23.1 (2003):51-52
"Two-Faced Liberalism," Critical Review, 14.4 (2002): 441-458.
"Misunderstanding Socrates," Arion, 9.3(2002):111-121.
"Two Concepts of Inquiry," Philosophical Writings, 20 (2002): 69-81.
"Liberty, Community, and Democracy," Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 15.4 (2001):286-304.
"A Pragmatist Critique of Rorty's Hopeless Politics," Southern Journal of Philosophy, 39.4 (2001): 611-626.
"On The Supposed Tension in Peirce's 'Fixation of Belief'," Journal of Philosophical Research, XXVI (2001): 561-569.

IV. Miscellaneous
Philosophy in the United States, bibliographic essay, authored with John Lachs, US Department of State, 2005
Pragmatism and Deliberative Politics, guest edited issue of Journal of Speculative Philosophy 18.1(2004)
On James, monograph for students, authored with D. Micah Hester, Wadsworth, 2004
On Rawls, monograph for students, Wadsworth, 2001
On Dewey, monograph for students, Wadsworth, 2000 (Japanese translation, 2002)
V. Work In Progress
See My SSRN Author Page