Pragmatism and The Meaning of Truth

by William James, Alfred Jules Ayer (Introduction)

Pragmatism is the most famous single work of American philosophy. Its sequel, The Meaning of Truth , is its imperative and inevitable companion. The definitive texts of both works are here available for the first time in one volume, with an introduction by the distinguished contemporary philosopher A. J. Ayer.

In Pragmatism , William James attacked the transcendental, rationalist tradition in philosophy and tried to clear the ground for the doctrine he called radical empiricism. When first published, the book caused an uproar. It was greeted with praise, hostility, ridicule. Determined to clarify his views, James collected nine essays he had written on this subject before he wrote Pragmatism and six written later in response to criticisms by Bertrand Russell and others. He published The Meaning of Truth in 1909, the year before his death.

These two works show James at his best full of verve and good humor. Intent upon making difficult ideas clear, he is characteristically vigorous in his effort to make them prevail.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist who was also trained as a physician. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, James was one of the leading thinkers of the late nineteenth century and is believed by many to be one of the most influential philosophers the United States has ever produced, while others have labelled him the "Father of American psychology". Along with Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey, he is considered to be one of the greatest figures associated with the philosophical school known as pragmatism, and is also cited as one of the founders of the functional psychology. He also developed the philosophical perspective known as radical empiricism. James' work has influenced intellectuals such as Émile Durkheim, W. E. B. Du Bois, Edmund Husserl, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hilary Putnam, and Richard Rorty.

Born into a wealthy family, James was the son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James Sr and the brother of both the prominent novelist Henry James, and the diarist Alice James. James wrote widely on many topics, including epistemology, education, metaphysics, psychology, religion, and mysticism. Among his most influential books are Principles of Psychology, which was a groundbreaking text in the field of psychology, Essays in Radical Empiricism, an important text in philosophy, and The Varieties of Religious Experience, which investigated different forms of religious experience.
William James was born at the Astor House in New York City. He was the son of Henry James Sr., a noted and independently wealthy Swedenborgian theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics.

James interacted with a wide array of writers and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather Ralph Waldo Emerson, his godson William James Sidis, as well as Charles Sanders Peirce, Bertrand Russell, Josiah Royce, Ernst Mach, John Dewey, Macedonio Fernández, Walter Lippmann, Mark Twain, Horatio Alger, Jr., Henri Bergson and Sigmund Freud.

William James received an eclectic trans-Atlantic education, developing fluency in both German and French. Education in the James household encouraged cosmopolitanism. The family made two trips to Europe while William James was still a child, setting a pattern that resulted in thirteen more European journeys during his life. His early artistic bent led to an apprenticeship in the studio of William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island, but he switched in 1861 to scientific studies at the Lawrence Scientific School of Harvard University.

In his early adulthood, James suffered from a variety of physical ailments, including those of the eyes, back, stomach, and skin. He was also tone deaf. He was subject to a variety of psychological symptoms which were diagnosed at the time as neurasthenia, and which included periods of depression during which he contemplated suicide for months on end. Two younger brothers, Garth Wilkinson (Wilky) and Robertson (Bob), fought in the Civil War. The other three siblings (William, Henry, and Alice James) all suffered from periods of invalidism.

He took up medical studies at Harvard Medical School in 1864. He took a break in the spring of 1865 to join naturalist Louis Agassiz on a scientific expedition up the Amazon River, but aborted his trip after eight months, as he suffered bouts of severe seasickness and mild smallpox. His studies were interrupted once again due to illness in April 1867. He traveled to Germany in search of a cure and remained there until November 1868; at that time he was 26 years old. During this period, he

Reviews

[robin friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

William James And The Meaning Of Truth

In 1907. William James published his short, highly-influential book "Pragmatism" which consisted of a series of eight lectures he had delivered in Boston and New York City. For the most part, "Pragmatism" was written in a popular, accessible style. James explained the pragmatic method as a means of resolving the tensions between religion and science, or, as he put it, the differences between "tough minded" and "tender minded" approaches to philosophy. James developed pragmatism as a method in which metaphysical disputes were to be resolved by testing their practical consequences in life. If the disagreement had no practical consequences, for James, the question was probably misformed or idle.

The most controversial part of "Pragmatism" consisted of its theory of truth which James developed in Chapter VI. He argued that the truth of an idea was the use that could be made of it, or as he put it in the Preface of his book, "The Meaning of Truth," "true ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify. False ideas are those that we cannot." James's theory of truth appeared counter-intuitive to many people, philosophers and laymen alike, who believed that a true idea (or true statement, claim, proposition, etc) was one that corresponded in some sense to reality.

In order to explain further his view of truth and to respond to criticism, James gathered together thirteen of his published lectures and addresses on the subject. He added two additional lectures and a Preface and edited and published them in 1909 as a book "The Meaning of Truth: A Sequel to "Pragmatism". These essays show the development of James's thinking about the nature of truth and attempt to rebut criticism of the theory set forth in "Pragmatism". "The Meaning of Truth" differs in style from its famous predecessor. Where "Pragmatism" is nontechnical and written for a lay audience, "The Meaning of Truth" was, for the most part written for professional philosophers. It is much more difficult to read and to understand. Yet it is essential to James's thought.

James had another explicit goal in writing "The Meaning of Truth." In addition to developing the pragmatic method, James also was committed to a philosophical view he called radical pluralism which he expounded in his 1907 book, "A Pluralistic Universe." In "Pragmatism", James had said that pragmatism could be accepted as a method without accepting radical pluralism. In the Preface to "The Meaning of Truth", James said that a major advantage to his theory of truth was that it cleared the philosophical ground of absolutes and of fixed, monistic entities behind, in some strange sense, the world of ordinary experience. With the need for absolutes or transcendental theories disposed of, James said, the doctrine of radical empiricism would be supported. That doctrine argued for the contingency, rather than necessity, of much of experience, and held further that the only things that philosophers could sensibly discuss were matters definable in terms drawn from experience.

The essays in "The Meaning of Truth" were originally written between 1884 and 1909, and in them James foreshadows, explains, defends, and subtly modifies the theory articulated in "Pragmatism". The most important single section of the book is the Preface which James composed for the volume to explain where he had been in the theory of truth and where he was going. I will comment briefly on some of the key essays.

The first essay, "The Function of Cognition," written in 1884, explains the theory of truth in psychological terms -- some critics argue that throughout his writings James tended to confuse psychological with philosophical issues. Of the other essays in the book predating "Pragmatism", I found "The Essence of Humanism" written in 1905 most useful in stating James's position.

James's most sustained attempt to rebut critics of his doctrine was in his essay "The Pragmatist Account of Truth and its Misunderstanders" published in 1908. In this essay, James set forth what he deemed to be eight misunderstandings of pragmatism and struggled to answer these misunderstandings. This essay is essential in considering James's views. The essay "Two English Critics", first written for the volume attempts to answer Bertrand Russell's criticisms of James, and in the concluding "Dialogue" James tries to show how the pragmatic theory answers questions about which we have no experience -- say back in the early days of the earth before human beings appeared.

James's theory of truth is difficult and slippery, and he seems to change it subtly in response to critics. Several objections to the doctrine note its idealistic character in that James's theory seems to make true statements independent of the existence of reality -- of physical objects, say, existing independent of the knower. In "The Pragmatist Account of Truth", in the subsequent essays, and in the Preface, James tries to answer this objection by insisting that his pragmatism is committed to metaphysical realism -- to the existence of objects outside the knower and that his theory of truth works because it is about these objects. (In "A Pluralistic Universe", James's metaphysics seems more idealist in character.) Some readers take this response as qualifying James's pragmatic theory or even as giving away the game as it imparts a realist component to his epistemology that is over and above his theory of truth as what works, consistent with other beliefs. Ultimately it seems to me that James wants to have it both ways between a representational theory and a pragmatic theory.

Pragmatism as developed by James, Peirce, Dewey, and others is, in many forms and varieties, still much alive today. James laid the foundation for the doctrine in "Pragmatism" and in "The Meaning of Truth" but he did not say the last word. The former book is a grand introduction to the subject while the latter book is detailed and technical. Taken together the works will help the reader think about pragmatism and to understand a distinctive American contribution to philosophy.

Robin Friedman

[Andrew]

"Pragmatism" is vastly, vastly stronger than its sequel. "The Meaning of Truth" is a rather scattershot set of short essays, responses to James' critics, and reiterations of his theories. But "Pragmatism" is a tour de force. James annihilates the arguments of positivists, idealists, and theologists with a radically empiricist program that disposes of reason-worship without disposing of reason, that preserves a metaphysical mind while leaving Berkeleyan nonsense behind, and that cheerfully tosses baroque Kantian distinctions out the window. By James' era, philosophy was starting to eat itself, and James and Nietzsche to kick the discipline's ass back into shape. Good for them.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER'S TWO MAJOR BOOKS

William James (1842-1910) was an American philosopher (noted for his influence on Pragmatism) and psychologist (the first educator to offer a psychology course in the U.S.; see his 'Principles of Psychology'); he was also the brother of the novelist Henry James. He wrote many other books, such as 'The Will to Believe,' 'Essays in Radical Empiricism,' 'The Varieties Of Religious Experience,' etc.

In his Preface to 'Pragmatism,' James stated, "The lectures that follow were delivered at the Lowell Institute in Boston in November and December, 1906, and in January, 1907, at Columbia University... They are printed as delivered, without developments of notes. The pragmatic movement, so-called---I do not like the name, but apparently it is too late to change it---seems to have rather suddenly precipitated itself out of the air. A number of tendencies that have always existed in philosophy have all at once become conscious of themselves collectively, and of their combined mission; and this has occurred in so many countries... that much unconcerted statement has resulted. I have sought to unify the picture as it presents itself to my own eyes, dealing in broad strokes, and avoiding minute controversy."

He outlines, "the pragmatic method is primarily a method of settling metaphysical disputes that otherwise might be interminable. Is the world one or many? fated or free? material or spiritual? Here are notions either of which may or may not hold good of the world; and disputes over such notions are unending. The pragmatic method in such cases is to try to interpret each notion by tracing its respective practical consequences. What difference would it practically make to anyone if this notion rather than that notion were true? If no practical difference whatever can be traced, then the alternatives mean practically the same thing, and all dispute is idle." Whenever a dispute is serious, we ought to be able to show some practical difference that must follow from one side or the other's being right." (Pg. 28)

He elaborates, "[Pragmatism] has no objection whatever to the realizing of abstractions, so long as you get about particulars with their aid and they actually carry you somewhere... she has no a priori prejudices against theology. If theological ideas prove to have a value for concrete life, they will be true, for pragmatism, in the sense of being good for so much. For how much more they are true, will depend entirely on their relations to other truths that also have to be acknowledged." (Pg. 40-41)

He argues, "[Pragmatism] has in fact no prejudices whatever, no obstructive dogmas, no rigid canons of what shall count as proof... She will entertain any hypothesis, she will consider any evidence. It follows that in the religious field she is at a great advantage both over positivistic empiricism, with its anti-theological bias, and over religious rationalism... In short, she widens the field of search for God... Pragmatism... will could mystical experiences if they have practical consequences... Her only test of probable truth is what works best in the way of leading us, what fits every part of life best and combines with the collectivity of experience's demands... If theological ideas should do this, if the notion of God ... should prove to do it, how could pragmatism possibly deny God's existence?" (Pg. 44)

He observes, "Free-will pragmatically means novelties in the world, the right to expect that in its deepest elements as well as in its surface phenomena, the future may not identically repeat and imitate the past... persons in whom knowledge of the world's past has bred pessimism... may naturally welcome free-will as a melioristic doctrine. It holds up improvement as at least possible, whereas determinism assures us that our whole notion of possibility is born of human ignorance, and that necessity and impossibility between them rule the destinies of the world.

"Free-will is thus a general cosmological theory of PROMISE, just like the Absolute, God, Spirit, or Design... Free-will has no meaning unless it be a doctrine of RELIEF. As such, it takes its place with other religious doctrines... Other than this practical significance, the words God, free-will, design, etc., have none...Pragmatism alone can read a positive meaning into it, and for that she turns her back upon the intellectualist point of view altogether. `God's in his heaven; all's right with the world!'---THAT'S the real heart of your theology, and for that you need no rationalist definitions." (Pg. 60-62)

He says, "Pragmatism asks its usual question. 'Grant an idea or belief to be true,' it says, 'what concrete difference will its being true make in any one's actual life? What experiences [may] be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? How will the truth be realized? What, in short, is the truth's CASH-VALUE in experiential terms?' ... True ideas are those we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify. False ideas are those that we cannot. That is the practical difference it makes to us to have true ideas; that, therefore, is the meaning of truth, for it is all that truth is known as... The truth of an idea is not a stagnant property inherent in it. Truth HAPPENS to an idea. It BECOMES true, is MADE true by events. Its verity IS in fact an event, a process: the process namely of its verifying itself... Its validity is the process of valid-ATION." (Pg. 97)

He states, "On pragmatistic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true... experience shows that it certainly does work, and that the problem is to build it out and determine it, so that it will combine satisfactorily with all the other working truths... I have written a book on men's religious experience, which on the whole has been regarded as making for the reality of God...

"I firmly disbelieve, myself, that our human experience is the highest form of experience extant in the universe. I believe rather that we stand in much the same relation to the whole of the universe as our canine and feline pets to do the whole of human life... You see that pragmatism can be called religious, if you allow that religion can be pluralistic or merely melioristic in type. But whether you finally put up with that type of religion or not is a question that only you yourself can decide." (Pg. 143-144)

He asserts, "Whether knowledge be taken as ideally perfected, or only as true enough to pass muster for practice, it is hung on one continuous scheme. Reality, however remote, is always defined as a terminus within the general possibilities of experience: and what knows it is defined as an experience that `represents' it, in the sense of being substituted for it in our thinking because it leads to the same associates, or in the sense of `pointing to it' through a chain of other experiences that either intervene or may intervene." (Pg. 241)

He explains, "My account of truth is realistic, and follows the epistemological dualism of common sense. Suppose I say to you `The thing exists'---is that true or not? How can you tell? Not till my statement has developed its meaning farther is it determined as being true, false, or irrelevant to reality altogether. But if now you ask `what thing?' and I reply `a desk'... if moreover I say `I mean that desk,' and then grasp and shake a desk which you see just as I have described it, you are willing to call my statement true... This notion of a reality independent of either of us, taken from ordinary social experience, lies at the base of the pragmatist definition of truth. With some such reality any statement, in order to be counted true, must agree. Pragmatism means `agreeing' to mean certain ways of `working,' be they actual or potential.

Pragmatism is perhaps the quintessentially "American" philosophy; although some readers (e.g., Bertrand Russell) may choose to dismiss or ridicule it, this book will give one a clear statement of the philosophy, from one of its founders.

[sube · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explaining pragmatism, it's a) semantic clarification, where debates of a words' meaning have to be disaggregated in its different practical consequences and b) that truth are ideas bringing our experiences in closer relationship to reality verified through utilising it for operations and actions, as concepts are ways to organise our experiences and so allow ourselves to make sense of reality.

I am a very big fan and think his pragmatism is largely correct, with the undercurrent of pragmatism here being in postulating actions and active knowledge to be at the forefront, actively creating knowledge instead of passively receiving it.

He is already foreshadowing much of logical empiricism (including his emphasis on verification and semantic clarification), yet at same time very much in tradition with traditional philosophy in e.g. defining truth as sub-type of the good, which I find very fascinating.

The first part (Pragmatism) is very well-written and readable (even if James opens himself up to misintepretation easily, e.g. using terms like "cash-value" in explaining how to resolve philosophical debates). The second part, which is a collection of essays, are much more uneven and only a few ones are worth reading where he responds to critiques or misunderstandings of pragmatism.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first and direct encounter with American pragmatism; and I am quite impressed with it. Its understanding of truth is much better when compared with rationalism, empiricism, idealism, solipsism, logical positivism, or any other epistemology at that time. In fact, it is much better when compared with Popper's and at par with Kuhn's – both still in vogue these days. The first half of the book is very good; as the second half is mainly a collection of published articles. Basically, James understands that all previous attempts to bridge the gap between subject and object or between an idea and reality failed; while his pragmatic approach offers a workable bridge between the two and thus a plausible definition of truth understood as correspondence.

I was surprised to notice James mentioning his “pragmatic friend Giovanni Papini” several times in the first half of the book - as I was not aware of their friendship or of Papini's pragmatism. But next James expressed his pragmatic understanding of God and faith; and then I realized that even if James's approach is not as insane or amazing as Papini's in “The Failure”, nevertheless it is in the same spirit and direction.

[Geonostalgist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although Charles S. Peirce is even acknowledge by James as the true “Father” of Pragmatism, it is abundantly clear to me why James is known as the one who really brought it to the world in an accessibly packaged way. For while the Pragmatism lectures were far more engaging and gripping that the “Meaning of Truth” portion, which I found to be a bit more fuzzily-abstract and not as practical or applied, they nevertheless both present a relatively straightforward case for the power of Pragmatism in allowing for a productive view of the world. Since I listened on Audiobook I wasn’t able to grab as many of the solid one-liners that James drops in defense, but mercifully the more opaque sections (again, mainly in the Meaning of Truth portion) passed by quicker. I appreciated this read, and while there may be modern (and therefore presentation-accessible) introductions or overviews of Pragmatism, these lectures still hold up rather well over a 100 years later.

[Aidan Corrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

William James reigns supreme to me! His writing of pragmatist illumination of the world is staggering. He never gives you things in sound bytes, you have to work with him. He truly blends theory and practice!

SOO much applicable stuff that I can work with and explore. It’s the bomb. I wish he wouldn’t just make pragmatism a method though, because the school as a whole is wonderful.

“ for rationalism reality is ready-made and complete from all eternity, while for pragmatism it is still in the making, and awaits part of its complexion from the future. The universe is absolutely secure, on the other hand it is still pursuing its adventures. “

[Kristopher Driver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Positively belligerent, and I do mean positively. A fun, but deeply insightful collection of essays. It is probably going to be received more negatively by the criticisms to which this entire volume is written in response. It's aggressively succinct and scientific its exploration of old Greek ideas in modern terms / tenses.

All of which, I must add, ignore Hume in their assumptions of causal reality. There are also some disappointing hand wavy moments from time to time, such as bouncing between Ultimate truth and perceptual truth accuse others of conflating the terms but doing so too.

[Kim Daly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A classic.
My edition (Harvard University Press) , however, is defective: it goes
- pages 1-194
- pages 227-258
- pages 227-269
An obvious printing mistake, which shouldn't happen in academic presses. A real shame.

[Gary Jaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A reprint of the originally published editions of these two important works of James.
Presents James's practical and very human-focused understanding of what can be shown as true and what can be shown to be inspiring truths.

[Mitch Olson · Rating 2 out of 5]

dry & boring

[Davis Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging philosophical writing. Poor philosophical philosophy.

[Julie Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't believe I used to like Philosophy - it just takes so much energy to read. I mean, I'm glad these concepts are added to our collective pysche, but it's just a lot to digest.