James's Pragmatism Research Articles

James and Carnap on philosophical systems and the role of temperaments

AbstractThe relationship between American pragmatism and logical empiricism is complicated at best. The received view is that by around the late 1930s or early 1940s pragmatism had been replaced, supplanted, or eclipsed by the younger and more logic‐oriented form of empiricism developed in interwar Vienna. Recently, however, this picture has been challenged, and this paper offers further reasons for thinking that the received view is inadequate. Through a critical examination of William James's Pragmatism and “The Sentiment of Rationality” and Rudolf Carnap's “Elimination of Metaphysics Through Logical Analysis of Language” and other works, the paper builds a case for the existence of a rather striking correspondence between the work of one of pragmatism's most vaunted figures and the thought of logical empiricism's most famous advocate. Not only were both philosophers interested in what might be called metaphilosophy or the psychology of philosophy, both held very similar deflationary views.

Wilhelm Jerusalem, Europe’s Early Interpreter of Pragmatism: Introduction to Translations

Viennese philosopher and sociologist Wilhelm Jerusalem (1854–1923) has been the subject of renewed interest as an early interpreter of pragmatism in early twentieth century German-speaking intellectual circles. This article introduces a set of English translations of Jerusalem's work on pragmatism by outlining Jerusalem's life, the development of his ideas, and his influence. The accompanying translated pieces come from the period 1907–1910 when Jerusalem was intensively involved in defending and developing pragmatist philosophy. They include the "translator's foreword" to his German translation of James's Pragmatism lectures; a published obituary for James; and two excerpts from his popular Introduction to Philosophy that introduce pragmatism to German students and elaborate his own "empirical," "genetic," "biological and social" point of view, influenced by pragmatism.

Toward a Pragmatist Account of Human Practices

This paper focuses on a curious lacuna in the pragmatist tradition. In the writings of the classical American pragmatists (Peirce, James, Dewey, Mead, and Lewis) very little attention is given to articulating a conception of practices and, more broadly, of pragmata. The author offers a sketch of what he takes to be a pragmatist account of human practices. He stresses how for the pragmatists themselves theory is a practice or, more precisely, an extended family of evolving practices complexly related to other practices. Moreover, he takes such an account of practices to be fundamentally at odds with various attempts to provide a transcendental justification for any human practice. He draws upon a brief yet suggestive discussion in William James's Pragmatism of language, law, and truth and develops the implications of James's treatment of these topics. In the course of doing so, he proposes how a classic work (such as a philosophical text or musical composition) can be understood from a strictly historicist perspective. He concludes with a reflection on the extent to which creative intelligence has been conscripted by the bellicose agenda of national or imperialistic regimes, yet holds out the hope of creative intelligence freeing itself to some extent from the war machine of nation states.

The Will to Believe in this World: Pragmatism and the Arts of Living on a Precarious Earth

AbstractThe patterns of ecological devastation that mark the present unexpectedly enable an ancient and many‐storied question to resurface with renewed force: the question of the arts of living — that is, of learning how to live and die well with others on a precarious Earth. Modernity has all but forgotten this question, which has long been buried under the dreams of progress and infinite growth, colonial projects, and the enthroning of technoscience. But what might it mean to reclaim the question of the arts of living today? In this article Martin Savransky reclaims the connection between pragmatism, education, and the arts of living by proposing both that (1) William James's pragmatist philosophy can be read as an ongoing and unfinished experiment in weaving a certain art of living, and (2) James's pragmatism might provide us with uniquely generative elements to begin to experiment with the profoundly educational and ecological challenge of learning to inhabit the Earth otherwise.

Methodologies of Travel: William James and the Ambulatory Pragmatism of Bruno Latour

ABSTRACTThis article argues for the methodological resonance shared by Bruno Latour and William James in order to understand Latour's affiliation with pragmatism. Unlike many readers of Latour, I suggest that his relation with pragmatism is primarily methodological rather than primarily ontological. To clarify this, I look to the resonances between James's methodological pragmatism and Latour's actor-network methodology. Latour's pragmatism resonates with James's as it incorporates a methodological focus on practices and objects, and as it furthers underdeveloped themes of motion in James's pragmatism. This methodological alliance, I argue, consists in a modification of the metaphoric of method from one of Cartesian construction to one of movement and travel.

The Contribution of James Duff Brown to the Analytic-Synthetic Method: Comparisons with Otlet, Kaiser, and Ranganathan

Considering that the analytic-synthetic method is still one of the main methodological approaches to knowledge organization, the present paper aims to highlight the contribution of James Duff Brown to the development of this method. We conducted a comparative analysis based on William James's pragmatism in order to investigate the convergences of Brown’s work with other authors of the analytic-synthetic movement, namely Otlet, Kaiser, and Ranganathan. Our pragmatist analysis reveals that Brown developed a similar stance to the aforementioned authors based on the analysis and synthesis of subjects for knowledge organization.

Memory Acts: A Theory for the Study of Collective Memory in Everyday Life

History abounds in everyday life: It is in the discourse of the politician who makes a patriotic use of World War II, in the epic movie of medieval inspiration, in the latest museum opening in town, or in the magnet on your fridge that makes a humoristic use of advertisement posters from the 1950s. What tools can help us understand how history is used in these contexts, and with what purposes? And, more importantly perhaps, how to understand the effects these uses have on us? To answer these questions, this article proposes a framework to study the uses of collective memory in everyday life. After a short review of the history of collective memory, the concept of memory act is outlined, based on three theoretical traditions: James's pragmatism, Austin's speech acts, and Mead's social acts. They are used to argue that everyday uses of collective memory are better understood as intersubjective and discursive acts that are part of larger activities. Finally, some of the consequences of this theory are discussed.

The Jamesian Appeal of Scheler's Felt Metaphysics

I attempt to solve a problematic feature of Scheler's intentional feeling. Spiritual feelings are disembodied and elements of William James's pragmatism offer a way to make elements of Scheler's phenomenology more concrete than Scheler's phenomenology allows. I then further develop this insight since contact between both Scheler and James opens up possible trajectories and affinities that, in the end, reveal both thinkers share an affective underpinning to their respective metaphysics. In both thinkers, reality is given as felt. As such, this underpinning becomes a basis for interpreting Scheler's later metaphysics through Jamesian pragmatism.

UNCERTAINTY AND GOD: A JAMESIAN PRAGMATIST APPROACH TO UNCERTAINTY AND IGNORANCE IN SCIENCE AND RELIGION

AbstractThis article picks up from William James's pragmatism and metaphysics of experience, as expressed in his “radical empiricism,” and further develops this Jamesian pragmatist approach to uncertainty and ignorance by connecting it to phenomenological thought. The Jamesian pragmatist approach avoids both a “crude naturalism” and an “absolutist rationalism,” and allows for identification of intimations of the sacred in both scientific and religious practices—which all, in their respective ways, try to make sense of a complex world. Analogous to religious practices, emotion and the metaphysics of experience play a central role in science, especially the emotion of wonder. Engaging in scientific or religious practices may create opportunities for individuals to realize that they are co‐creators of the world in partnership with God, in full awareness of uncertainty and ignorance and filled with the emotion of wonder.

William James and the Art of Popular Statement

William James and the Art of Popular Statement

Jonas and James: The Ethics and Metaphysics of Post-Holocaust Pragmatism

ABSTRACT This essay offers a critical comparison of William James's pragmatism with Hans Jonas's ethics and philosophy of religion. Nine important similarities between James and Jonas are identified, ranging from pragmatic naturalism to the doctrine of a finite God, which Jonas defends as a necessary revision of our understanding of the divinity based on the experiences of the Holocaust. The deep connection between morality and mortality is also addressed. The main differences between Jonas and James are found in their accounts of the relation between ethics and metaphysics.

100 years of pragmatism: William James's revolutionary philosophy

Citation and Reference Abbreviations Introduction: 100 Years of Pragmatism 1. James's Pragmatism and American Culture, 1907-2007 / James T. Kloppenberg 2. The Enemies of Pragmatism / Mark Bauerlein 3. The Earth Must Resume Its Rights: A Jamesian Genealogy of Immaturity / Ross Posnock 4. Pragmatism and Death: Method vs. Metaphor, Tragedy vs. the Will to Believe / William J. Gavin 5. William James's Pragmatism: A Distinctly Mixed Bag / Bruce Wilshire 6. The Deconstruction of Traditional Philosophy in William James's Pragmatism / Richard M. Gale 7. James on Truth and Solidarity: The Epistemology of Diversity and the Politics of Specificity / Jose M. Medina 8. Pragmatism, Nihilism, and Democracy: What Is Called Thinking at the End of Modernity? / James Livingston 9. Active Tension / Linda Simon 10. Reflections on the Future of Pragmatism / Ruth Anna Putnam 11. Looking Toward Last Things: James's Pragmatism Beyond Its First Century / John J. Stuhr List of Contributors Index

Jamesian pragmatism: a framework for working towards unified diversity in nursing knowledge development

Abstract Nursing is frequently described as practical or pragmatic and there are many parallels between nursing and pragmatism, the school of thought. Pragmatism is often glancingly referenced by nursing authors, but few have conducted in-depth discussions about its applicability to nursing; and few have identified it as a significant theoretical basis for nursing research. William James's pragmatism has not been discussed substantially in the nursing context, despite obvious complementarities. James's theme of pluralism fits with nursing's diversity and plurality; his emphasis on social conscience in our actions matches nursing's fundamental purpose of improving the lives of others; his continuous testing of pluralistic truths in critically reflective practice pairs well with nursing's focus on developing best-available, holistic evidence; and his conceptualization of truth as being born in practice and becoming an instrument in practice is entirely compatible with nursing's theory-practice identity. The oft-discussed theory-practice gap is seen to hinder the development of nursing knowledge. If nursing is to find its identity in knowledge development and potentiate the knowledge developed, it is imperative to identify and address that which is impeding progress. By way of the pragmatic tenets of William James, I will argue that a significant part of the theory-practice gap lies in how nursing knowledge development is operationalized, creating a false dichotomy between practice and research. I will also argue that the research-practice schism has been widened by continued philosophical and methodological infighting in the research community. I will describe how Jamesian pragmatism can be 'what works' for rebuilding relationships and supporting an engaged plurality within nursing research and bring research and practice together into a collaborative and iterative process of developing nursing knowledge.

PRAGMATISM, REALISM, AND RELIGION

ABSTRACTPragmatism is often thought to be incompatible with realism, the view that there are knowable mind‐independent facts, objects, or properties. In this article, I show that there are, in fact, realist versions of pragmatism and argue that a realist pragmatism of the right sort can make important contributions to such fields as religious ethics and philosophy of religion. Using William James's pragmatism as my primary example, I show (1) that James defended realist and pluralist views in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and philosophy of religion, and (2) that these views not only cohere with his pragmatism but indeed are basic to it. After arguing that James's pragmatism provides a credible and useful approach to a number of basic philosophical and religious issues, I conclude by reflecting on some ways in which we can apply and potentially improve James's views in the study of religion.

Issues of Consequence: Lessons for Educating Tomorrow's Business Leaders From Philosopher William James

The philosophy of William James (1842–1910) provides guidance to business educators as they steer their students in a new direction that is consistent with capitalism, yet elevates our expectations of what business can and should be: a dynamic, progressive, innovative enterprise that embraces multiple perspectives, and that drives social good. In this essay I derive a set of lessons germane to business education from James's major philosophical themes. I then outline institutional and curricular initiatives consistent with these lessons and discuss the changes in faculty mind-set implied by James's pragmatism.

The Truth is in the Making: Borges and Pragmatism

Jorge Luis Borges's affinities with pragmatism, while certainly no secret his critics, have rarely been studied before with intensity and seriousness they otherwise undoubtedly deserve. This fact in and of itself should not come as a surprise; rather, it is consistent with a widespread tendency speak only with a great deal of irony about this author's philosophical alliances. Did not Borges himself talk of his basic as a tendency to evaluate religious or philosophical ideas on basis of their aesthetic worth and even for what is singular and marvelous about them (Other Inquisitions 189)? Such an evaluation in terms of aesthetic worth would seem preclude interrogations of a strictly theoretical kind, as if sheer marvel of a philosopher's inventions could not but overshadow their truth content. Aside from occasional mentions of Arthur Schopenhauer and Fritz Mauthner as philosophers whose books he annotated most, Borges also only rarely pronounces his philosophical commitments other than in literary-aesthetic terms, for instance, when he refers metaphysics as a branch of fantastic literature. Quickly making this skeptical stance their own, many of Borges's critics in turn shy away from a sustained inquiry into coherence of his philosophical beliefs. In so doing, they all but completely loose sight of possibility that beneath surface of irony they might find a small but fairly systematic set of philosophical principles, genealogy of which is worth looking into as well. In case of pragmatism, especially version dear William James, this is all more unfortunate insofar as Borges's debts James warrant such a genealogical inquiry perhaps more so than his affinities with any other modern philosopher. Indeed, what should come as a surprise even skeptics is strong language with which Borges, in a few marginal texts, expresses his utmost admiration for James's philosophy. In most significant of these texts, preliminary note 1945 Argentine translation of Pragmatism, Borges even goes so far as abandon his commonly self-proclaimed skepticism for an outspoken ethical judgment in favor of James. Never included in Borges's complete works nor in any of collections of essays and prologues published during his lifetime, this text is now at last more widely accessible thanks materials gathered in Textos recobrados. an aesthetic appreciation, Borges writes, the universes of other philosophies might be superior (James himself, in fourth conference of this volume, speaks of 'the music of monism'); ethically, William James is superior. He is only one, perhaps, for whom human beings have something do (Nota preliminar 11). For a writer who only rarely invokes term of ethics, it must be said that these are unusually strong words indeed. How, then, should we understand this alleged superiority of James's philosophy? What exactly is this doing or this making that is allowed to, or demanded from, all human beings according view that Borges attributes James? The claim that I want defend in following pages holds that James's pragmatism is actually far more central Borges's work than is commonly accepted--not just in prologue Pragmatism or even in one written for translation of Varieties of Religious Experience as part of Borges's Biblioteca personal, but right from earliest beginnings of his career as a writer and essayist. Of course, we all know that as an adolescent Jorge Luis was fond of hearing his father lecture on philosophical topics with James's Principles of Psychology as his manual. Less well-known, if not completely speculative, is fact that another of Borges's teachers, Macedonio Fernandez, for a while kept a correspondence with William James--with a signed photograph from New England philosopher as only surviving proof now in possession of Macedonio's son and archiver Adolfo de Obieta (cf. …

One Hundred Years ofPragmatism

With the centenary of the publication of William James's Pragmatism (1907) fast approaching, this paper explores two questions. First: what role did James's volume play in the development of the Pragmatic movement?; second: how powerful a force was that movement within American academic philosophy? With regard to the first question, this paper suggests that Pragmatism was not the font of the movement, but in fact appeared near its end; with regard to the second question, this paper suggests that the Pragmatic movement, while of great importance in American society, was itself only a minor moment within professionalizing American philosophy.

Rorty's Nietzschean Pragmatism: A Jamesian Response

Richard Rorty makes the case that Friedrich Nietzsche shared a common pragmatism with William James in order to incorporate certain Nietzschean themes into neo-pragmatism and to give his philosophy stronger pragmatic credentials. In making this connection, he establishes a version of pragmatism that rejects both epistemology and metaphysics, reduces the pragmatic theory of truth to “truth is what works,” places the Darwinian account of man at the center of the human narrative, and makes Nietzschean “self-creation” the chief end of a postmodern, post-religious liberal society. But if one reads James more faithfully (a task that Rorty rejects), it is clear that James does not succumb to the nihilism, perspectivalism, and atheism characteristic of Rorty's Nietzschean pragmatism. A more comprehensive reading of James's philosophy brings together James's pragmatism, his pluralism, and his radical empiricism. And this more complete interpretation of James's pragmatism offers a pluralistic and hopeful approach to politics that does not suffer from Nietzsche's and Rorty's nihilistic, relativistic, and antipolitical tendencies.

The Role of Religious Belief in James's Pragmatism

Ralph Barton Perry notes that pragmatism is movement that begins with William James's misunderstanding of Charles Sanders Perry's observation is perceptive in two respects. First, James clearly misunderstood Peirce's pragmatic principle. Indeed, James's interpretation of Peirce's pragmatic point of view caused Peirce to change its name from pragmat i sm to pragmaticism—a term Peirce thought ugly enough to be kept safe from kidnappers. 2 Peirce's strong reaction to James's misunderstanding is not without warrant. For, while Peirce stressed universal and long-term consequences of a pragmatic way of thinking, James emphasized its particular and immediate ones. Secondly, although James himself acknowledged Peirce as founder of pragmatism, pragmatic movement did not truly begin with Rather, pragmatism became a movement only when it became object of James's concern. Perhaps, more than any other factor, James's inimitable manner of presentation—whether in lecture hall or in print—brought pragmatic way of thinking into popular consciousness. By his own admission, James discovered in Peirce's principle a means of making philosophy a matter of public debate and concern. As Cornel West observes, James's contribution consists of popularizing personal and moral implications of pragmatic perspective initiated by Peirce. 3 Indeed, a concern for personal and moral implications of pragmatism dominates James's thinking. From early to late in his philosophical career, he occupies himself, in West's words, with the heroic energies and reconciliatory strategies available to individuals. 4 No less consistent than James's concern for personal and moral implications of pragmatism is his concern for its religious ones. The Gifford Lectures of 1901-02 (later published

The radical empiricism of William James and philosophy of history.

William James's philosophy of history is explored in his classic psychological and philosophical works and in 2 articles he devoted specifically to the topic. Historical issues are set forth in terms of James's individualism, pragmatism, and radical empiricism. It is argued that a Jamesian philosophy of history provides a reasoned and believable middle way between the extremes of realism and constructionism. James believed that historical change is brought about both by the contributions of individuals and by forces in cultures and the environment that help shape the direction of things. Finally, the author explores implications of James's pluralism for history and his quarrel with absolutistic conceptual schemes that attempt to reduce all things to 1 thing.