Muelder, Walter G., et al., eds.  The Development of American Philosophy. Boston:  Houghton Mifflin Co., 1960.

Abstract

Twenty years have passed since the publication of the Muelder and Sears source-book, The Development of American Philosophy. A new edition is believed necessary not for the purpose of adding a chapter on recent contributions but for the disclosure of aspects and extensions of the established traditions which shifting preoccupations and stresses have made significant. The selections in the new Part Eight represent the efforts of thinkers whose intellectual roots are in the various traditions - idealism, realism, and pragmatism - to reconstruct their problems, ideas, and methods in relation to developments in twentieth century science. Insofar as possible, the editor has chosen themes and topics that were present in the earlier periods of American thought. In Part Two new material has been added to provide a richer representation of the moral and social philosophy that underlies Jefferson's religious thinking. Chauncey Wright has been included in Part Four because of the growing recognition of his importance as an influence upon major American philosophers and of the originality of his contributions in the interpretation of Darwinism as empirical science. The whole development of American idealism is now embraced in Part Five, with an added selection from Brand Blanshard's The Nature of Thought. Selections from Arthur O. Lovejoy, Ralph Barton Perry, and Evander Bradley McGilvary have expanded Part Seven. The original plan of the book has remained unchanged. The policy of choosing longer rather than shorter readings has been continued in order to introduce students to the method and argument as wellas the conclusions of a philosophy. The critical discussion of schools of thought by outstanding representatives of another point of view have been useful in acquainting students with issues that they may have missed and calling attention to the role of criticism in the development of philosophical ideas. The selected bibliographies citing the principal works of authors and supplementary accounts have been brought up to date. In generall, the responsibility for Parts One, Two, and Five remains with Walter G. Muelder and for Parts Three, Four, Six, and Seven with the late Laurence Sears. Decisions about the general revision and selections for the new Part Eight were made by Anne V. Schlabach." - Preface to the Second Edition