Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking

James begins the lecture with an anecdote drawn from an experience he had on a camping trip in the mountains. When the camping party argued about whether a person could go around a squirrel as it circled a tree, James pointed out that the question depended on one's point of view. James uses the anecdote to illustrate what the pragmatic method seeks to accomplish: “settling metaphysical disputes that otherwise might be interminable” (18) by testing competing theories to find out what practical consequences they would have in the real world. If no practical difference is found to exist between two theories, then pragmatism judges the dispute to be pointless, and thus makes peace between the two factions.

The term “pragmatism” derives from the Greek word for “action,” which is also the source of the English words “practice” and “practical.” Charles Sanders Peirce was the first to use the term in philosophy, in 1878, arguing that “our beliefs are really rules for action” (18) and that, therefore, to achieve clarity about the meaning of our ideas, we need to consider the practical effects they may have on human behavior. Subsequently, James took up the flag of pragmatism in a lecture at the University of California in 1898. In the nine years since, pragmatism and the ideas associated with it have become widely known, so that there is now talk of a pragmatic movement in philosophy. However, James believes that pragmatism is widely misunderstood, and he desires to bring clarity to the discussion.

Pragmatism, James insists, is not an entirely new philosophy. Many philosophers going back to Socrates and Aristotle used elements of it, but not in a systematic way; only now has it become consolidated into “a universal mission” (20). In a passage that reflects the stirring tone of much of James’s writing, he states that he believes that pragmatism has a destiny in the future world of philosophy and hopes to inspire his audience with his belief.

In stressing that pragmatic ideas already have a long history, James explains the meaning of his book’s subtitle, “A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking.” In doing so, James substantiates his own claim (developed later in the book) that pragmatism synthesizes the old and the new, thus contributing to the steady progress of knowledge.

Pragmatism is a “more radical” and “less objectionable” version of traditional empiricism because it “turns its back resolutely” on rationalist abstraction and because it does not “stand for any special results” but “is a method only” (20). James points out that universal adoption of pragmatism would mean that ultra-rationalistic philosophers and professors would be lose their jobs, while science and metaphysics would come closer together than ever before. Here we see James applying the pragmatic method to pragmatism itself by looking at the practical consequences that will follow from an embrace of the philosophy.

Pragmatism, James emphasizes, is a “method” or “attitude of orientation” (22), rather than a set of closed principles or conclusions. It is like a hallway in a hotel, which connects rooms where people are using pragmatism to achieve various, even contradictory, ends: some praying to God, some conducting scientific experiments, some even arguing for atheism. This metaphor demonstrates James’s conviction that pragmatism is a useful system of thought for everybody.

Throughout the lectures, James uses transitional passages to help to orient his listeners/readers as to where he is going and what to expect next. Here, he explains that a later lecture will detail pragmatism’s “theory of truth” (22), but the current one will demonstrate “how it works on some familiar problems” (22).

James turns to the world of science. Since science is always evolving, it must accommodate new truths and experiences. At first, scientists believed that the laws governing the universe were absolute, but over time they realized that these laws are only “approximations,” useful ways of conceiving things rather than “absolutely a transcript of reality” (22). From this insight, scientific thinkers have developed a new process of harmonizing new truths with old ones with the least possible strain. Likewise, we need a baseline of truths to live by, while adapting to new discoveries; however, there must be continuity in our knowledge lest we become overwhelmed by the novelty of the new data we must regularly absorb.  

To sum up, James states that pragmatism is two things: a method and a theory of what truth is. The subsequent lectures will flesh out these themes. In concluding the lecture, James touches a bit on the relation of pragmatism to religion, stressing that pragmatism is friendly to faith. In fact, “she widens the field of search for God” (31) because pragmatism is not limited to rationalistic explanations, but instead considers all experience, including religious experience, as valid. This shows that pragmatism is a democratic philosophy, closely aligning with American ideas and ideals (see Background for more discussion).