ABSTRACT
The renaissance of pragmatism in philosophy, literary criticism and legal thought in the past few years is a salutary development. This chapter briefly maps the different kinds of neopragmatisms in relation to perspectives regarding epistemology, theory and politics. It suggests that neopragmatic viewpoints usually fail to situate their own projects in terms of present-day crises—including the crisis of purpose and vocation now raging in the professions. The chapter shows how the conception of prophetic pragmatism may provide what is needed to better illuminate and respond to these crises. All neopragmatists are antifoundationalists; that is, the validation of knowledge claims rests on practical judgments constituted by, and constructed in, dynamic social practices. All neopragmatists shun grand theory because it smacks of metaphysical posturing. Part of the renaissance of neopragmatism can be attributed to the crisis of purpose and vocation in humanistic studies and professional schools.
