摘要：This article examines two recent discussions of pragmatism in the field of communication
and media studies: Chris Russill¡¯s reconstruction of a pragmatist tradition based on the
theories of William James and John Dewey, and Mike Sandbothe¡¯s neopragmatist design
for media philosophy. The main contention of the article is that Russill and Sandbothe
advocate an unnecessarily narrow conception of pragmatist thought, one that tends to
exclude the contribution of Charles S. Peirce, the founder of pragmatism. After the presentation
of Russill¡¯s and Sandbothe¡¯s positions, the article attempts to meet their explicit
and implicit criticisms of Peircean pragmatism. More specifically, it is shown that Peirce
does not advocate ¡°transcendental universalism¡±. In conclusion, the article argues that his
broad conception of experience is preferable to the radical empiricism of James, and that
Peircean habit-realism is not only compatible with Dewey¡¯s pragmatism, but may in fact
provide the most fertile starting-point for pragmatist communication inquiry.
关键词：pragmatism, communication theory, Peirce, James, Dewey
