I Am An American Philosopher: Roberta Dreon

-An Interview Series with John Capps-

“As a European philosopher belonging to a tradition that has developed refined forms of disenchantment toward the future—and not without reason—I admire the Pragmatists’ courage in believing that it is still possible to make a difference, however slight.”

Roberta Dreon is Professor of Aesthetics and Director of the Venetian Centre for Cognition, Language, Action and Sensibility at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice. She is the author of John Dewey fra natura umana e democrazia. Una biografia intellettuale (with Matteo Santarelli; 2026), Human Landscapes: Contributions to a Pragmatist Anthropology (2022) and Fuori dalla torre d’avorio: L’estetica inclusiva di John Dewey oggi (2012; French translation 2017). In addition to her work in aesthetics, philosophy of emotion, and philosophy of habits, until the end of 2025 she was co-editor in chief of the European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy.

What does American philosophy mean to you?

For me, American philosophy essentially means Classical Pragmatism, especially the philosophies of John Dewey, William James, and George Herbert Mead. It represents the kind of American culture I am fond of and sincerely believe should be supported and reclaimed in the difficult times we are living through. In a nutshell, it involves, first, a form of non-dogmatic naturalism, which considers human beings an integral part of a changing environment , and renounces  any privileged position.

At the same time, it entails rejecting any attempt to justify what exists by appealing to causes, reasons, or principles beyond it, as Joe Margolis argued. Second, it means adopting a genuinely pluralistic attitude, which involves tolerance, inclusiveness, and awareness of one’s own biases. Third, it implies embracing a melioristic attitude. As a European philosopher belonging to a tradition that has developed refined forms of disenchantment toward the future—and not without reason—I admire the Pragmatists’ courage in believing that it is still possible to make a difference, however slight.

How did you become an American philosopher?

Perhaps I am not a proper American philosopher, as my personal and intellectual history might shows. I was trained in a typically continental philosophical environment, where hermeneutics and phenomenology were central references, together with classical German philosophy. During my student years, and later while working on my PhD thesis, I was fascinated by Heidegger’s “ontology of facticity,” which my mentor Mario Ruggenini translated into a “hermeneutic of finitude.” Pragmatism was not a subject of inquiry in the Venice department. Only Luigi Perissinotto read some Rorty and Putnam through a Wittgensteinian lens.

I encountered Dewey almost fortuitously, when I found a reference to Art as Experience in a volume by Wolfgang Iser. Once I started reading Dewey’s work, I never stopped. As I became increasingly involved in Pragmatism, I had the good fortune to meet Rosa Calcaterra who, together with her research group, was strongly supportive.

At the risk of being misunderstood, I believe I have found in Dewey, James, and Mead the resources to articulate a heterodox analytic of existence on naturalistic yet non-reductive grounds.

How would you describe your current research?

I am still working on sensibility and the emotions, a philosophy of habits, and the entanglement of language and experience in the human world. I am also planning to expand the conceptual toolbox for articulating the philosophical anthropology I sketched in Human Landscapes by exploring a cultural-naturalistic view of interest. It will be part of a new book that I am writing together with Mathias Girel, David Hildebrand, Matteo Santarelli, and Pierre Steiner.

What do you do when you’re not doing American philosophy?

Nothing particularly original, yet all meaningful to me: reading novels, watching movies, swimming, and, above all, spending time with my family. My great love is gardening: taking care of plants is genuinely restorative for me, and I like to think that this is a passion I inherited from my grandmother.

What’s your favorite work in American philosophy? What should we all be reading?

Human Nature and Conduct is certainly my first choice.