Drawing on significant Anglo-American and Continental traditions, this book discusses the development of pragmatic thinking and brings together the diverse pragmatic traditions within philosophy, semiotics, and linguistics. It focuses especially on the contributions of Charles Peirce, Charles Morris, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Karl-Otto Apel, and Jurgen Habermas. Arens offers a comprehensive study of Habermas' and Apel's competing claims to provide the foundations for pragmatics and also discusses the challenges posed to Apel and Habermas by the emergence of American neo-pragmatism. His book will be of interest to graduate students and specialists in philosophy, communication, language, social theory, ethics, theology, and the history of thought.