Rating: 
Summary: American History of the Year?
Review: Fantastic read. Besides being as well-written as a good piece of fiction, this book manages to weave together philosophy, personal biography, and a watershed of American historical facts. I found this just before it began to pick up steam in the literary press, and I had already decided that it would be one of my best reads of the year.I think any American interested in the history of philosophy can't help but wonder a bit about the only school of philosophical thought that's generally referred to as American born. Such a figure as William James towers among our national thinkers, but there are lesser known giants such as Charles Sanders Pierce without who's work it's doubtful James would have popularized the concept of pragmatism. Finding information about these thinkers has led me to more academic essays and books, but never in a format as this, readable as it is packed with information. And in this, seemingly the year of American history in publishing, you also find a mine of knowledge on a fascinating period of our nation's growth. Covering a span of time from Reconstruction to the 1920's and the career of John Dewey, there are subjects explored from labor history to the rise of modern American geographic survey teams. All of this tied to a group of core thinkers who reflected and shaped a uniquely American method of thought. This book definitely gives "Founding Brothers" and "John Adams" a run for their money as best history read of the year. While not covering a period as naturally popular as the founding patriots, the material is more copious, complex, and eminently readable.
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Summary: Buy it and read it.
Review: This is most engrossing, enlightening historical nonfiction book I've read in years (If you want to know, the most recent comparable work I've read is Titan by Ron Chernow.) Menand shows that there is nothing new about the moral and legal relativism of contemporary intellectuals. Those of the 19th Century, too, relentless questioned the supposedly timeless relevance of the absolutes of their day, yielding, in various permutations, the spirit of pragmatism that pervaded the thinking of the Supreme Court of Oliver Wendell Holmes and other institutions of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Menand shows how this philosophy promotes not just some crude utilitarian calculus, but ultimately the freedom of expression of all ideas, regardless how objectionable, as the ultimate safeguard of democracy. This is a timely masterpiece for 21st Century America, which in my opinion is in a new age of uncertainty, where intolerance and absolutism on both left and right, in the form, respectively, of P.C.-liberalism and Judeo-Christian conservatism, has been brought more to the forefront and perhaps represents our greatest national divide.
Rating:
Summary: Satisfying and informative
Review: I have had an interest in pragmatism and have read several books by William James. I have also been interested in CS Peirce and read his "How to make our ideas clear." Learning more about these two motivated me to read this book. The book was far beyond my expectations. Starting at the civil war and the changes in thinking it brought about it incorporates statistics and natural selection into complete worldview that is profoundly different than what had gone before. It ties together history and thought in an organic way. It talks about the beginnings of modern education, from the founding of a school of science at Harvard to the works of John Dewey. There is just enough history and description of the personalities of the people involved to bring them to life, but not so much as to detract from the central point. The central point to document a profound shift in thought from idealism to a more statistical and relativistic view of the world. It answered many questions I have had and I could not put it down. I am sorry I am limited to 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Intellectual Delight
Review: The Metaphysical Club is a delight for the mind and a joy to read. Menand has a lucid style and a deft touch with narrative. This is a book that will give texture and nuance to one's understanding of 19th c. America.
Rating: 
Summary: Dry as Dust
Review: A dissenting view-- I came to this book as someone who wanted a good introduction to Pragmatism. I have to say that I was disappointed. The book meanders all over the place, telling gossipy stories of the Civil War, Dartmouth College/University, and Hetty Green that the author barely bothers to tie into his main theme. I kept thinking, "Okay, when are we going to get to the part about Pragmatism?" Only in the last chapters do we finally get a comprehensive explanation of what Pragmatism is, but these chapters could easily be read on their own, without the buildup of all that came before. A very perplexing read. A book that isn't sure what it wants to be.
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Summary: How Americans think
Review: Louis Menand's The Metaphysical Club is a lucidly written account of the lives and ideas of four of America's seminal intellectuals--William James, John Dewey, Charles Sanders Pierce, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. To many of us, these are names only, but Menand brings each one to life with a rare ability to tie biography to thought. All four were members of a small, short-lived club at Harvard in the 1870s, and all shared ideas about the peculiarity of America's intellectual tradition in light of current European philosophy. Menand shows that each in his own way contributed to the formation of a unique way of thinking later to be called "pragmitism." This quasi-philosophy seemed to addresss the American situation (the frontier, the bi-racial society, action oriented individualism, etc.) more directly than borrowed European schemas (Hegel, Locke and Laplace are discussed, among others). For those with a desire to see philosophical ideas in a fresh, vibrant light, this book is a "must-read." That a scholarly work should rank so highly among the intelligent public is a tribute to its brilliant author.
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Summary: Pragmatism, not Pragmaticism
Review: Anyone bold enough to correct the spelling of Peirce, should know how to spell Pragmatism.
Rating: 
Summary: Peirce not Pierce
Review: Anyone bold enough to write a review of Pragmaticism, should know how to spell Peirce.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent. Popular scholarship of the highest order.
Review: This book, a blend of biography and intellectual history, truly has it all: a profound, original thesis; a beautiful narrative style; and a clear presentation of complex ideas without diluting their intellectual gravity. The book does for William James, Wendall Holmes, Charles Peirce, and John Dewey what Tony Judt's wonderful THE BURDEN OF RESPONSIBILITY did for Blum, Camus, and Aron--rescues critically important intellectual figures from obscurity and presents them in a graceful human form. The analysis of both character and theory is appreciative and appropriately irreverent. Menand wants you to see them and their ideas in the context of a society tolerant of both eccentricity and fanaticism, and in the context of a society that was fundamentally altered by the Civil War. Beautifully done, and an exhilarating read. A warning to specialists: This book is intended for a general audience. A warning to the politically correct: You may be offended. A warning to regionalists (like myself): It's not as simple as Yankee = the good guys, Southerner = the bad guys. The only criticism I have is slight. Menand neglects the contributions of Josiah Royce to the intellectual community of the period he is describing, but he more than makes up for it with vivid portraits of such forgotten figures as Louis Aggasiz, G. Stanley Hall, Eugene Debs, etc... If this one doesn't pull down the Pulitzer I'll be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Great book to challenge one's political leanings...
Review: Menand's book is wonderful because it explores the importance of Pragmatism without debating Pragmatism as good or bad for the United States. He lets you explore that on your own. Conservatives will hate this book as it reemphasizes the importance of intellectuals in a crucial time in American culture as the Civil War tested our faith in God and our country. This book is timely also in that our country is struggling to embrace an intellectual grounding in the 21st century. Thanks to the 80's new Conservative era and the 90's backlash that came from the CLinton scandals we Americans have reason to be confused about our intellectual grounding. Menand needed to remind us we have been in worse shape in American history and it took keys intellectuals to shape our future.
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