The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-08-09

into a rule of conduct, for II aims at
dealing with the concrete. at giving meta
phys!cal truths" q new content, at throw
ing oyorboard the entire apparatus Of meta
physics from Kant to Sohopenha,er. Again
vehcc leave to doubt the possibility Of these
things occurring. and James would prob
ably tell us: "You are quite right. Make
your own truths In this very plastic world
around you. which Is real, as II is your own
creation. Is not pragmatism, then some-
thing else practical"
Upon the beach Of the world lie glIstening
In the sun innumerable gigantic wrecks
and shards Of philosophical systems. waAhed
up by the tides Of time only In the end to
be swallowed In the tomb Of time. The
pragmatists, point to these antique vessels
OF thought. nee vital. now obsolete. and
e1cIaim ~oenold. to tho state must como
ell tuths!' Ibsen expressed the same idea
when he said that a truth was usually aged
after its twentieth year. But pragmatism,
not being a system. only q rowing comet
amid the considerations Of philosophers.
will, it is asserted. remain eternally young
that is, unless sorne giant planet does not
drag il within it's orbit and incorporate II
ss a part-a very small part-of It's own
system.
In sooth as II stands now In It's nudity
there is not much to grasp. A thin d~octoral
thesis! The nature Of Judgments, most
important Of propositions. Is not dealt With
by James. Yet the consequences Of judR-
ment are seen in conduct. Pragmatism 10
not a theory OF truth but a theory OF what
it is e~xpedient to believe. No Categorical
imperatives' for James. only e~xpedienoy-
you remember his major definition: ,'The
true is only the expedient In the way Of our
thinking Thus the nature Of belief is
never touched. and Judgment. "the real
problem OF truth 10 left in the dark. Pro-
fessor James calls the r~ationalists tender
minded and the pragmatists tough
minded |. o.. they do not fear 10 face
reality. 1t strikes US that tho above orux
and the failure Of the p~ragmatists : como
to grips with II proves the new men to be
TENDER not tough minded. A truth
that lie only good as q means and not in IT,
self sets III to wondering what particular
kind OF fslaehood this ~truth' must be.
1t is putting the cart before the horse.
Life. IL lived only for what We get out of It,
would not be lived out by many men.
Bread We can't do without; but to have
only bread! We suspeot the new prag-
mstism to be laboring in the mesh Of mud
died verbal definitions.
1t calls itself empirical and n~ominalistio,
as opposed to the ancient realism and the
new rationalism. Despite protestatious to
the contrary. We see over the new truth
the deadly trail Of eclecticisrn. and when
the new pragmatic palace Is built-and It
Is sure to be-we may sec many old bricks
from many old systems used In Its c~onstruo-
ton. The pragmatist 10 neither o yes
sayer nor q no-sayer to the universe. He 10
alooker ON, despite his claims to be q worker
with visible ideas. His is q critical, not a
constructive. attitude. II the centuries pre-
ceding him had maintained this pose Of
Indifference what intellectual values would
have been transmitted usi To be q cheer
full sceptic Is much easier than to forge the
thunderbolts Of affirmation or negation.
And the old idees. even II abstract -ob-
%solete.' mere empty frames without CON
crate pictures, were after all definite
ideas and have served pragmatic purposes.
What would have become Of oir thinking
apparatus II beck in the womb Of Time some
genius had not formulated the notions Of
Time and Space?, Working hypothesis II
realitiesl Better the bitter thunder Of
SchoTtenhxberis pessimfsm than this limp,
waiting for something to be proved atti-
tude. Dynamic? The quality that prag-
natism does not boast 10 the dynamic ele-
ment. William James is a dynamic writer.
% is the brilliant Papini-who is more poet
than IRA matist--but between a man and q
working system Of conduct CULTS may inter-
vene, For the young pragmatism win al
ways Proclaim Nothing Is proved. all 10
permitted; and though Professor James
admits q belief IN God as q working hypo-
thesis this hypothesis would not long work
In a world where virtue ID Judged only by Ito
consequences-pleasant or unpleasant to
each OF us. as the case may be. Pascal saw
these things clearly when he told tho In
credulous man that 1t didn't matter much
to the sceptic whether there was q God
or humiliation after death, as the two doc
were equally indifferent to him: what
very much. however. wers the dif-
ferent consequences OF the two doctrines.
We suppose for this speech Pascal viii be
called a pragmatist. So are we; for by their
consequences we shall judge the 'truths'
OF the prs gmatists. whether "truths' OBJ
jeaive or truths" newly manufactured for
special occasions.
Curious 1t is to see bobbing up again
that once fercely hated word .expediency."
with its inevitable corollary: The end justi-
the means. Has the Society Of Jesus |
captured the pragmatists viii be asked |
by the timid. Yet here 10 that same terror |
breeding axiom. 90 sedulously foisted upon |
the Jesuits for 90 many years. emerging
from obscurity and actually used a. .
catchword embroidered upon tho ban
ners Of the pragmatists. E~xpediencyi The
end iustihes the meansl 10 Truth (capi-
talized) a chameleon or . Phanixi James
In one Of his lectures op the Notion Of
Truth assured US that. first. you know. |
a new theory 10 attacked % absurd; then
1t Ia admitted to be true but obvious and
significant; finally 1t Ii een to be 80 i'm |
portant that its adversaries claim that
they themselves discovered it, We plead
guilty TO the second count. emitting the
word significant Obvious is this prsg.
matism with it's cash values" its vast
Gradgrindlike appetite for .faots.' -real-
ity' and its sophistical -meiiodsm.' Its
'realities' are those Of the midri6. not