Books by Sami Pihlstrom

This book integrates pragmatism and transcendental philosophy in examining the most serious problem defining the human condition, death and mortality. Its analysis of human limits and finitude is intended to be relevant to the concerns of philosophers specializing in, for example, transcendental philosophy, philosophical anthropology, pragmatism, Wittgenstein, and the philosophy of religion. Mortality is studied as providing a necessary framework within which questions concerning the meaningfulness or meaninglessness of human life become possible.

This book takes a fresh look at how William James'' (1842ΓÇô1910) conceptions of the human mind, death (mortality and immortality), and religion provide us with a viable alternative to many contemporary philosophical approaches. The distinctive Jamesian perspective is illuminated through critical discussions of several different theories and conjectures. The overall argument of this volume is that pragmatist metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and philosophy of religion must be subordinated to ethics. To provide an historical and philosophical context for this revolutionary conception of the pragmatic method, an introductory discussion of James'' views on pragmatism, realism, and truth is also included. Instead of focusing on the general issues of realism and pragmatism, however, the volume examines the applications of these issues to topics such as death, evil, and other minds. The book is vital reading not only for James scholars and pragmatists, but for anyone thinking seriously about human mortality and the endless ethical challenges our life with other human beings that confront us.

In Transcendental Guilt: Reflections on Ethical Finitude, Sami Pihlsröm argues that the concept of guilt is fundamental to moral philosophy and to our self-understanding as moral agents. As the author emphasizes the constitutive role played by this concept, or by our capacity to experience the corresponding moral emotion(s), he labels the both ethically and metaphysically fundamental kind of guilt to be discussed transcendental guilt. However, the book does not merely illuminate this specific ethical concept. It also seeks to intensify our understanding of the nature of moral thought itself, especially of the seriousness of the moral point of view. Thus, Transcendental Guilt poses a challenge to our ethical self-conceptions, and also to our philosophical attempts to understand them. This book does not attempt a new ethical theory. Rather, it is critical of the very idea of ethical theory, especially if by ethical theory we mean a systematically organized structure setting us universal or absolute moral norms and principles. Nor does Pihlström engage in metaethical theorizing about the meaning of ethical concepts. Rather, the book engages in moral reflection, which is something significantly broader than (meta)ethical theorizing. In moral reflection, we are not establishing theoretically justified normative principles or constructing theories about the meaning of moral language; instead, we are reflecting on our finite human lives-our lives with other human beings-as presenting us with personal yet fundamental moral demands. Moreover, the moral reflection practiced in the book is both historically informed and philosophically systematic.Scholars, graduate or advanced undergraduate students, and general educated readers interested in fundamental issues in ethics will appreciate the novel perspective presented, which challenges mainstream ideas about moral theories and the foundations of ethical thought.

The book is a study of pragmatism and pragmatic pluralism in the philosophy of religion. Through critical examinations of James's, Dewey's, and recent neopragmatists' ideas, it argues that key issues in the field - including the debate between evidentialism and fideism, and the problem of evil - need rearticulation from a pragmatic pluralistic perspective.