Josiah Royce on "The Spirit of the Community" and the Nature of Philosophy: An Interpretive Reconstruction

Abstract

Josiah Royce's name has begun to appear in calls for the reassertion of philosophy in public life, with several recent authors recommending Royce's thought as the basis for a "public philosophy." 1 Such a reliance on Royce may appear misguided to some. After all, William James, John Dewey, and others among Royce's contemporaries were extremely critical of the allegedly abstract and speculative character of his philosophy, with its central focus on metaphysical and religious themes. Royce, in turn, rejected much of what he termed their "recent pragmatism" as too narrow in its conception of truth and of the community of interpretation that is capable of attaining truth. 2 Current philosophers who are more familiar with these disputes than with the rest of Royce's work may be inclined to dismiss Royce out of hand. I believe that any serious reading of Royce shows that such disregard is a mistake, though it is not my intent to repeat here the arguments that others have made elsewhere. Suffice it to say, with his distinctive treatment of such important topics as community, religion, metaphysics, and the notion of truth, Royce indeed offers many significant insights for the development of a contemporary public philosophy.