The Metaphysical Club
by Louis Menand · first published 2001
11mentions
7recommended by
9HN commenters
2008–2024first – last mentioned
78% recommend22% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Intertwined history of Holmes, William James, Peirce, and Dewey, tracing how pragmatist ideas took shape in America and spread into law and social thought; suits newcomers to pragmatism and readers wanting context.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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It's a bit more than a biography, but I'd recommend "The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America" by Louis Menand. It's about the lives and history surrounding Oliver Wendell Holmes, William James, Charles Peirce, and John Dewey, and the pragmatist philosophy they were…
on “Ask HN: What are some good biographies to read?” ↗…considered pivotal are best forgotten, and the reviewer offers little praise. Tangentially, the author of the review, Louis Menand, is certainly qualified to review history. I highly recommend his book The Metaphysical Club about the origins of American Pragmatism.
on “Did 1995 Change Everything?” ↗If you're interested in Dewey (both the man and his ideas), I can't recommend reading Louis Menand's The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America (https://www.amazon.com/Metaphysical-Club-Story-Ideas-America...) highly enough. It's truly magisterial, and will give you insight not just on Dewey but on the entire sweep…
on “How We Think, by John Dewey (1910)” ↗Louis Menand’s _The Metaphysical Club_, from 2001. It is a combined history of William James, Charles Sanders Peirce, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., and their later acolyte, John Dewey, as well as of their related ideas, which go by the shorthands…
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗To get you started, I’ll recommend you one book that checks all three boxes at once: Louis Menand’s magisterial The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28202). Enjoy :-D
on “Ask HN: Are books worth it?” ↗The Metaphysical Club, by Louis Menand, a history of American Pragmatism
on “Ask HN: Can anyone recommend some philosophy reading?” ↗The Metaphysical Club is an excellent book about how the pragmatists shaped all of American thought, too. Obviously doesn’t replace reading the source material but it does articulate how ideas become encoded into a society.
on “"Are We Automata?" by William James (1879)” ↗You’re definitely onto something there. I highly recommend the book The Metaphysical Club which follows a specific group of thinkers (the Pragmatists) who formed much of the foundation of American legal theory. The TLDR: Every legal system is governed primarily by the “moral culture” and…
on “AI Doesn't Threaten Humanity. Its Owners Do” ↗"The Metaphysical Club" is a great book about this subject and these folks.
on “William James and the philosophy of pragmatism (2018)” ↗…pursue policies and honor behavior that are consistent with the survival of characteristics understood to be "adaptive," and it justifies, as "natural," certain kinds of coercion." – Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club.
on “Sea Otters Are Jerks. So Are Dolphins, Penguins, and Other Adorable Animals” ↗We were heavily inspired by learning about the Metaphysical Club. You could say it was a sort of book club. Some of the United States' most famous philosophers were members. They named the club ironically, because they hated the idea of metaphysics. One of my favorite…
on “Most book clubs are doing it wrong (2017)” ↗