Democratic Problem-Solving

“This is a superb book. It is both a philosophical examination of the idea of plural epistemological communities and a practical exemplification of the virtue of understanding democracy as an open conversation. Written in the context of a rise in populism, it shows that a hopeful and temperate approach to issues that divide our political communities is possible.” -- John Holmwood, Professor of Sociology, University of Nottingham
This extremely impressive book spins off from a judicious re-evaluation of surprising parallels between Popper and Rorty to a wide-ranging discussion of the politics of knowledge, and politics more generally, in modern societies. This transatlantic exchange is inevitably what Cruickshank calls a 'slow dialogue', but it is a very worthwhile one, as the UK and US slide towards their respective catastrophes. -- William Outhwaite, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Newcastle University
Justin Cruickshank, Raphael Sassower, and their other interlocutors probe incisively the dialogic bases of beliefs and their relation to political practice. They debate Popper, Rorty, other important theorists and epistemology more broadly via discussion of pressing political and policy issues that illuminate the mounting crises of neoliberalism and need to rethink capitalism and democracy, as we currently know them. -- Robert J. Antonio, University of Kansas
This book is composed as an experiment on the function of intellectuals in a testing time, the crisis of neo-liberal democracies. Established scholars have teamed up with rising stars in a series of exchanges designed to determine whether the critical spirit of intellectual life is better served by a singular individual who represents diversity in his or her person or by a self-organizing collective forging its way toward some normative ideal. As Cruickshank, Sassower and their collaborators admit, both options may be needed to swim against the ever changing currents of capitalism. -- Steve Fuller, Auguste Comte Chair in Social Epistemology, University of Warwick, author of The Intellectual