Pragmatism as a way of life : the lasting legacy of William James and John Dewey

483 Pages·2017·1.39 MB·English

by  Hilary Putnam

Pragmatism as a Way of Life

Pragmatism as a Way of Life
The Lasting Legacy of William James
and John Dewey
Hilary Putnam
Ruth Anna Putnam
edited by
David Macarthur
THE BELKNAP PRESS OF HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, Massachusetts & London, England / 2017
Copyright © 2017 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First printing
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Putnam, Hilary, author. | Putnam, Ruth Anna, author. | Macarthur,
David, editor.
Title: Pragmatism as a way of life : the lasting legacy of William James and
John Dewey / Hilary Putnam, Ruth Anna Putnam ; edited by David Macarthur.
Description: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard
University Press, 2017. | Includes index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016043965 | ISBN 9780674967502 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Pragmatism. | James, William, 1842–1910. | Dewey, John,
1859–1952. | Ethics.
Classification: LCC B832 .P945 2017 | DDC 144/.3–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016043965
CONTENTS
Standard Editions of the Works of the Classical Pragmatists ix
Introduction by David Macarthur 1
The Insights of Classical and Neo-Pragmatism
1. Taking Pragmatism Seriously 13
Ruth Anna Putnam with a reply by hilary putnam
2. Pragmatism and Verificationism 21
Hilary Putnam
3. What Makes Pragmatism So Different? 36
Hilary Putnam
4. Pragmatism and Nonscientific Knowledge 55
Hilary Putnam
5. Weaving Seamless Webs 71
Ruth Anna Putnam
vi CONTENTS
6. Rorty’s Vision: Philosophical Courage and Social Hope 87
Ruth Anna Putnam
7. Reflections on the Future of Pragmatism 108
Ruth Anna Putnam
Key Topics in the Pragmatism of James and Dewey
8. Was James a Pragmatist? 123
Ruth Anna Putnam
9. Pragmatism and Realism 140
Hilary Putnam
10. What the Spilled Beans Can Spell: The Difficult and Deep
Realism of William James 159
Hilary Putnam and Ruth Anna Putnam
11. James’s Theory of Truth 167
Hilary Putnam
12. James on Truth (Again) 188
Hilary Putnam
13. James’s Philosophical Friendships, 1902–1905 201
Hilary Putnam
14. What James’s Pragmatism Offers Us: A Reading of the
First Chapter of Pragmatism 225
Hilary Putnam
15. Varieties of Experience and Pluralities of Perspective 232
Ruth Anna Putnam
16. William James on Religion 248
Ruth Anna Putnam
17. The Real William James: Response to Robert Meyers 261
Hilary Putnam and Ruth Anna Putnam
CONTENTS vii
18. Dewey’s Central Insight 276
Hilary Putnam
19. Dewey’s Epistemology 293
ruth anna Putnam
20. Dewey’s Faith 314
ruth anna Putnam
Pragmatist Conceptions of Moral Value and Democracy
21. Philosophy as a Reconstructive Activity: William James on
Moral Philosophy 331
Hilary Putnam
22. The Moral Impulse 349
ruth anna Putnam
23. The Moral Life of a Pragmatist 360
ruth anna Putnam
24. Creating Facts and Values 385
ruth anna Putnam
25. Perceiving Facts and Values 405
ruth anna Putnam
26. Democracy and Value Inquiry 421
ruth anna Putnam
27. Democracy as a Way of Life 439
ruth anna Putnam
Appendix: Other Works on Pragmatism by Hilary Putnam and
Ruth Anna Putnam 455
Works Cited 457
Acknowledgments 465
Index 469

STANDARD EDITIONS OF THE
WORKS OF THE CLASSICAL
PRAGMATISTS
Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce, 8 vols. Ed. Charles Hartshorne, Paul
Weiss, and Arthur W. Burks. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1931–1958.
Vols. 1–6 ed. Charles Hartshorne and Paul Weiss (1931–1935); vols. 7–8 ed.
Arthur W. Burks (1958).
The individual volumes, with original date of publication:
1: Principles of Philosophy [1931]
2: Elements of Logic [1932]
3: Exact Logic [1933]
4: The Simplest Mathematics [1933]
5: Pragmatism and Pragmaticism [1934]
6: Scientific Metaphysics [1935]
7: Science and Philosophy [1958]
8: Reviews, Correspondence and Bibliography [1958]
Citations from these volumes will appear in the form:
Peirce, Collected Papers, vol., para.
The Works of William James, 17 vols. Ed. Frederick H. Burkhardt, Fredson Bowers,
and Ignas K. Skrupskelis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1975–1988.
x STANDARD EDITIONS OF THE CLASSICAL PRAGMATISTS
The individual volumes, with original date of publication:
1: Pragmatism [1975]
2: The Meaning of Truth [1975]
3: Essays in Radical Empiricism [1976]
4: A Pluralistic Universe [1977]
5: Essays in Philosophy [1978]
6: The Will to Believe [1979]
7: Some Problems of Philosophy [1979]
8: The Principles of Psychology (3 vols.) [1981]
9: Essays in Religion and Morality [1982]
10: Talks to Teachers on Psychology [1983]
11: Essays in Psychology [1983]
12: Psychology: The Briefer Course [1984]
13: The Varieties of Religious Experience [1985]
14: Essays in Psychical Research [1986]
15: Essays, Comments and Reviews [1987]
16: Manuscript Lectures [1988]
17: Manuscripts, Essays and Notes [1988]
Citations from these volumes will appear in the form:
James, Works, vol., page.
The Collected Works of John Dewey, 1882–1953, 37 vols. Ed. Jo Ann Boydston.
Produced by the Center for Dewey Studies, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.
The Early Works of John Dewey, 1882–1898, 5 vols. Carbondale: Southern
Illinois University Press, 1972.
1: 1882–88, Essays, Leibniz’s New Essays Concerning the Human
Understanding
2: 1887, Psychology
3: 1889–1892, Essays, Outlines of a Critical Theory of Ethics
4: 1893–1894, Essays, The Study of Ethics
5: 1895–1898, Essays
The Middle Works of John Dewey, 1899–1924, 15 vols. Carbondale: Southern
Illinois University Press, 1978.
1: 1899–1901, Essays, The School and Society, The Educational Situation
2: 1902–1903, Essays, The Child and the Curriculum, Studies in Logical
Theory