On The Very Idea - A Philosophy Podcast

Part Two of a three part series looking at how the American philosophical tradition of Pragmatism has caused American political theory to stagnate and actual politics to be stuck in a centrist rut. Bernie Sanders breaks out of this tradition on the left and offers a more ideological alternative to the typical centrism. I argue that Sanders explores a more moral direction to politics as opposed to the practically oriented, technocratic thinkers that dominate the Democratic Party. I argue that Americans need to break out of the pragmatic mindset to politics and explore a more ideologically robust approach.

Bernie Sanders has done something quite surprising in the American political arena - he has made socialism viable to a sizable segment of the American public. In this series, I contrast Sander's political rise with what can perhaps be called the one true American philosophy - pragmatism. I trace the history of American pragmatism and talk about both its benefits as a philosophy and its shortcomings - especially as an epistemological basis of a political critique. Pragmatism favours the practical over the ideological and this can often curb the more exciting theoretical impulses in American politics. I talk about how Sanders breaks out of this pragmatist mold to forge a new, more moral and ideological path for American politics.