ABSTRACT
The chapter proposes to develop a comprehensive philosophy of the arts and humanities and argues that the pragmatist tradition provides uniquely promising resources for this, especially as it equips us with a pragmatic conception of truth that pragmatist philosophers (especially William James) have compellingly articulated. Sketching a list of important topics for pragmatist philosophy of the humanities in selected areas (i.e., philosophy of literary theory and criticism, philosophy of historiography, and philosophy of theology and religious studies), the chapter focuses on the problems of truth and realism concerning the research objects of the arts and humanities, arguing that a distinctively pragmatic form of realism can be formulated. For such a form of realism, it is vital to understand the pursuit of truth, in the humanities as well as more generally, as not just a theoretical activity but as a human practice.
