Philosophy Americana: making philosophy at home in American culture

In Philosophy Americana, Douglas Anderson attempts to address “issues that arise in popular culture” (ix). He does so by drawing almost exclusively on issues that arise within his own experienced popular culture: a fairly limited, white, male, middle-class and country western perspective. He warns us of these limitations and believes a second, more inclusive volume may be forthcoming. Anderson further recognizes the perspective given to be a dominant and often privileged one, but argues that engaging this perspective should “be undertaken precisely because we often forget that ours is only one dimension of ‘America’” (7). While he does have some success at resisting the dangers of being “self-serving or even maudlin,” the essays at times look to be fairly “self-engrossed” (9). He successfully argues, however, that we cannot start from nowhere, as Dewey also emphasized, and thus reminds the reader that our own experience is a good starting point; but Anderson falls shy of his hope for inclusiveness and further admits to the narrowness of the volume. Philosophy Americana is a collection of essays by a single author. The book begins by considering philosophy’s current impact on our culture. Anderson sees philosophers popularly portrayed as “insane angels.” Philosophers are dubbed thus because they want to transform not simply themselves, but their culture. Philosophy, understood this way, is “an important medium of transformation.” Inspired by Dewey, Anderson asks philosophers to avoid the trap of thinking themselves to