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Richard Bernstein's (2010) The Pragmatic Turn is a first-rate scholarly work, an enduring contribution to the literature on the history of prag- matism, and one that is honestly very difficult to find fault with. Since I am a Dewey scholar and a democratic theorist, I will focus mainly on the book's third chapter ("John Dewey's Vision of Radical Democracy") and its relation to Bernstein's overall thesis: namely, that "during the past 150 years, philosophers working in different traditions have explored and refined themes that were prominent in the pragmatic movement" (2010, p. x). While Bernstein criticizes several of John Dewey's intellectual oppo- nents (for example, Maine, Trotsky, and Lippmann), he does not excuse Dewey and his democratic theory from similarly exacting scrutiny — as some Dewey scholars are guilty of. Indeed, a recurring critique in the third chapter is that Dewey's democratic theory is too light on particulars, saying very little about how to institutionalize the ideal he sets forth. I think that there is a good reason for Dewey's vagueness, and that reason comes forth when we appreciate the turn within the pragmatic turn.

DOI: 10.1057/9781137352705_7

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