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Book Reviews 451 Sydney Hook Reconsidered Matthew Cotter Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2004 ccxxxvi + 286 pp. It is fitting that this book, collected in memory of Sidney Hook, is not only a memorial to the philosopher known as "Dewey's Bulldog" but is also an opportunity to apply the lessons and failings of the past to present-day problems. Hook was nothing if not a public intellectual who, despite his sometimes controversial positions, was a staunch advocate for the relevance of philosophy to everyday life. As Dewey's intellectual heir, he was also the most public proponent of pragmatism between Dewey's death and the resurgence of neo-pragmatism in the 1980's. The essays that appear in this reconsideration of Hook's legacy were originally delivered at the 2002 conference in his memory: a conference surrounded with such controversy that it received mention in The New Yorker's "The Talk of the Town" section. The contributors whose essays appear in this collection have applied the lessons of pragmatism to their praise as well as their condemnation of lessons from our philosophic history. There are fourteen essays in this work covering such wide-reaching topics as politics, education, revolution, secular humanism and Hook's philosophy. While these essays all have their own strengths, for reasons of space, I reviewed only five. Barbara Forrest's essay "A Defense of Naturalism as a Defense of Secularism" is such an example of philosophy that is both politically engaged, practically important and historically sensitive. Forrest tackles the present-day assault on secularism launched by the political Religious Right. Forrest compares Hook's accusation, in his own time, of cowardice among academics to what could be called the "new new failure of nerve" (p. 81) amongst today's intellectuals. Forrest describes this as a failure of moderate and progressive, but also some conservative, intellectuals who, comfortable in the religious and political freedom of a secular, constitutional democracy, are paying insufficient attention to the panic of the Religious Right and its influence on public policy, (p. 81) Forrest argues that secularism is neither anti-religious nor religious, that the only reliable source of knowledge for public policy should be shared experience, and that shared experience is only accessible through naturalistic Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society Spring, 2005, Vol. XLI, No. 2 452 Book Reviews investigation. According to Forrest, these naturalistic inquiries are the methods ( woi the philosophies) of a secular democracy, and this, quite frankly, is best for all involved. While the Religious Right, today, attacks the so-called secular "elite," it is easy to forget that the separation of church and state is an important guarantor of religious freedom (especially of minority religions), and was once staunchly defended by the same denominations that now seek to dismantle it. I agree with Forrest that this is one of the most pressing problems currently facing the United States, especially in light of a recently re-elected administration that seeks, in Hook's prescient words, "to make God an instrument of public policy" (p. 80). In this light, Forrest's essay is an important reminder of the importance of secularism, and of the church-state divide, at a time when these institutions are increasingly under attack. This essay is also a reminder that, while Hook was a favorite of conservatives at the end of his life and still is today, he would not likely be pleased with the direction which conservativism has subsequently taken. Marvin Kohl's essay "Right to Life and the Use of Violence" demonstrates courage and pragmatic problem solving as he deals with the hot-button topic of violence in defense of human rights. Kohl states, in response to what he views as Hook "setting the bar too low," that: politics and ethics of democracy ought to rest on the freely given consent of the governed, where the governed recognize the right to life, liberty, and happiness as moral thresholds, where there is an equality of concern for all persons within the community to achieve excellence or develop themselves to the full reach of their powers, where there is an active concern and commitment to establish institutions and laws that protect against circumstances...

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