Cover: American Pragmatism by Albert R. Spencer

American Pragmatism

An Introduction

Albert R. Spencer











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Preface

This book surveys American pragmatism: its central themes, figures, and relevance to contemporary culture and philosophy. It will explore the following questions: What is American pragmatism? What is distinctly American about pragmatism, or any other philosophy? And what should be the proper boundaries of American pragmatism?

The book not only introduces the familiar figures (Peirce, James, Dewey), concepts (the pragmatic maxim, radical empiricism, the pattern of inquiry), and themes (fallibilism, meliorism, and pluralism) of American pragmatism but broadens the canon by including satellite figures (Royce, Addams, and DuBois) whose influence should be considered primary. It also intends to demonstrate pragmatism’s contemporary relevance by showing its growing global influence and how its concepts and methods can be applied to current problems. Although it does not intend to pursue a critical thesis, this introduction explores how pragmatism emerges in response to America’s transition from colony to superpower and how this transition, in turn, influences not only the development of pragmatism but its current relevance and future. In a nutshell, then, this study presents pragmatism as a philosophy of place that attempts to understand the meaning-making activities that shape the American experience. Thus it favors authors who engage with problems that emerge from the complex and tragic effects of settler colonialism and from the racial contract hidden behind the veil of American exceptionalism. It also presents contemporary pragmatism as a contested tradition. Some see it as a theory of truth established by the logician Charles S. Peirce, informed by experimental science, and designed to solve conceptual problems. Others see it as a method of experience, as it was defined by the psychologist William James and, later, by the educator John Dewey, who insisted upon honoring a plurality of human perspectives on ameliorating concrete problems.

Chapter 1 explains how the classical pragmatists (Peirce, James, and Royce), found pragmatism through their embrace of fallibilism – that is, through the recognition that even our most trusted knowledge is conditional and must continually be revised in light of new experience. They use this fallibilism to critique modern philosophy and to ameliorate the legacy of the Civil War. Chapter 2 describes how the Chicago pragmatists (Addams, Dewey, and Mead) deepen the social dimensions of pragmatism by using it to ameliorate the concrete problems of immigration and US expansion. Chapter 3 examines how the second generation of Harvard pragmatists (Santayana, DuBois, Kallen, and Locke) developed various forms of pluralism in order to challenge racism at home and totalitarianism abroad in the decades before World War II. Chapter 4 shows how the analytic pragmatists (Lewis, Quine, and Rorty) debunked the assumptions of logical positivism and transformed mainstream philosophy during the Cold War by drawing on the Peircean commitment to verification. Chapter 5 surveys the contemporary pragmatists who, during the eclipse of Jamesian pragmatism, engaged a variety of global traditions so as to find hope in an increasingly perilous world.

Before concluding this preface, a few logistical remarks are in place. First, owing to the effects of colonization, the etiquette of referring properly to the peoples of the western hemisphere remains a complicated issue and often varies according to the history of a particular nation, region, or people. Hence I follow the following conventions. When referring to the original inhabitants of the western hemisphere or their descendants, I use the term “indigenous peoples.” Whenever I refer to the indigenous people who inhabit the United States in general, I use the term “American Indian.” According to Thomas Norton-Smith, whose recommendation I’m following here, this term should be used in academic writing because it occurs in the numerous treaties between the United States and the indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere, as well as in state and national legislation. Norton-Smith also recommends this convention as a means of acknowledging and retaining the special legal status and rights guaranteed to American Indian peoples through treaties with the United States, in resistance to attempts to disenfranchise these peoples from such rights and protections simply by reclassifying them as another ethnic group. In all other cases I have sought to use the preferred name of the tribe or nation to which a person belongs, especially in the case of specific authors.

Second, this book approaches pragmatism through the critical lenses of settler colonialism, manifest destiny, and chattel slavery. Consequently it occasionally deals with tragic or graphic subject matter. Given the web of assumptions, institutions, and social practices that veil the ongoing impacts of these processes and keep them hidden from those whom they privilege, I deliberately include sources and information that accurately represent the dark realities of US history. I would like to apologize to any readers who may feel offended or who, having witnessed or endured these realities, prefer not to experience them again. Finally, the purpose of this book is not to be anti-American; on the contrary, I love this nation, its people, and its land. They are my home. But love, and even patriotism, often require critical analysis and an acknowledgment of the reality, scope, and magnitude of past problems, if healing is to occur.

Thus this book is only my representation of the rich variety of events, themes, locations, authors, works, and subjects that compose American pragmatism. My hope has been to write a narrative of pragmatism that is accessible to students and to curious readers – people who wish to know more about this tradition. However, I conceived and wrote this introduction to pragmatism during a period of difficult transition, both in the United States and globally. While I try to remain politically neutral in my commentary so as not to distract from the ideas and authors under discussion, this work was not composed in a vacuum. Indeed, paying due attention to context is a key commitment of the pragmatists; and Dewey calls us to reconstruct the past for the purpose of ameliorating the present and of imagining a better future. As a result, much of the content of this book has been selected to highlight moments in US history when this land and its people faced challenges similar to ones we face today.

Since the resources of American pragmatism are inexhaustible, there are many fascinating subjects that I could not discuss here, owing to limitations of time and space. If any of my readers notice any significant omissions, I hope the work as a whole will inspire them to devote their lives to the study of this thriving philosophical tradition – and maybe also to engage in the perpetual task of ameliorating the mistakes of the past.

Acknowledgments

Above all, I want to express unfathomable gratitude to those of my teachers who introduced me to pragmatism and, through their kindness, wisdom, and character, inspired me to study it: Roger Ward, Stuart Rosenbaum, and the late John J. McDermott, who created the collections, venues, and community necessary for the survival of pragmatism in the twentieth century and for its flourishing in the twenty-first.

Next I wish to thank the following people for their support during the development of this book: my wife, Tina, whose love, patience, and wisdom never end, for believing in me and my work even when I lacked self-belief; my brother-in-philosophy, Brady Romtvedt, for countless hours of conversation and for profound insights; Linda Eklund, for always supporting my career and scholarship; my mentors, Jeff Julum, Bill Karns, Bert Shaw, and Bob Williams, for reading multiple versions of the worst drafts of this work – and also for modeling lives of practical wisdom; my colleagues, Kyle Bromhall, Kevin Decker, Bennett Gilbert, Maurice Hamington, Aaron Massecar, Ian Patrick McHugh, and Noah Sharpsteen, for their constructive feedback on slightly more polished chapters; my cohort of SAAP-sters (members of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy) Justin Bell, John Giordano, David Henderson, Charlie Hobbs, Nate Jackson, V. Denise James, Zachary Piso, and Seth Vannatta, for expanding, refining, and challenging my understanding of pragmatism throughout the years; my students Ben Dunham, Ezra Goldberg, Ried Gustafson, Daniel Hettenbach, Tessa Livingstone, and Makenna Polan, for showing me how pragmatism continues to impact the lived experience of each generation; my friends Ted Van Alst, Paul Delahanty, and the late Miguel Reyes, for teaching me how to listen to this land and learn from the people who know it best, and for graciously helping me up when I stumbled along my journey to understand it; and the peoples of the Pacific Northwest whose traditional homelands sustain my life and work, specifically the Multnomah, the Kathlamet, the Clackamas, the Tumwater, the Watlala bands of the Chinook, the Tualatin Kalapuya and other Indigenous nations of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. I honor the sacrifices of their ancestors, celebrate their legacy, and dedicate this book to ameliorating our tragic history.

I also thank my animal teachers: the crow, for surveying my subject; the spider, for weaving the connections; and the bison, for persevering until the end.

Last but certainly not least, I thank my daughter for being my hope.