the human eros (cid:2) This page intentionally left blank american philosophy Douglas R. Anderson and Jude Jones, series editors This page intentionally left blank the human eros Eco-ontology and the Aesthetics of Existence (cid:2) thomas m. alexander fordham university press new work 2013 Copyright © 2013 Fordham University Press Al l rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher. Fo rdham University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. Fo rdham University Press also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Alexander, Thomas M., 1952– The human eros : eco-ontology and the aesthetics of existence / Thomas Alexander. — 1st ed. p. cm. — (American philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8232-5120-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8232-5121-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Aesthetics. 2. Philosophy, American—20th century. 3. Dewey, John, 1859–1952. 4. Santayana, George, 1863–1952. I. Title. BH39.A43 2013 191—dc23 2012041923 Pr inted in the United States of America 15 14 13 5 4 3 2 1 Fir st edition Fo r my sons, Adam Hartley Alexander and Nathan Blake Alexander Go in beauty And for Ka This page intentionally left blank Contents (cid:2) Ac knowledgments xi In troduction 1 Pa rt I: Nature and Experience 1 Th e Aesthetics of Reality: The Development of Dewey’s Ecological Theory of Experience 27 2 De wey’s Denotative-Empirical Method: A Thread through the Labyrinth 54 3 Be tween Being and Emptiness: Toward an Eco-ontology of Inhabitation 72 4 Th e Being of Nature: Dewey and Buchler and the Prospect for an Eco-ontology 103 Pa rt II: Eros and Imagination 5 Th e Human Eros 135 6 Pr agmatic Imagination 159 7 Jo hn Dewey and the Moral Imagination: Beyond Putnam and Rorty toward an Ethics of Meaning 180 8 Ed ucating the Democratic Heart: Pluralism, Traditions, and the Humanities 207 { ix }