Pragmatism and the Meaning of Truth (Works of William James)

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Summary: Essential Reading Towards Tolerant, Open-Democratic Society
Review: A very important book consisting of different lectures given by William James in 1907. Actually, I think this book, or the thoughts conveyed here, are essential to the future development of open-democratic society. All of the lectures are extremely interesting and flow, while some seem to teeter out to an extent, maybe to fill out the lecture hour. I found this book crucial for understanding both pragmatism and the application for pluralistic comprehension and tolerance of various different viewpoints that both compliment and contradict themselves. This is an important concept that when applied to politics, education, philosophy, religion, science and etc., the world becomes a more tolerant and hospitable place to live in.

This book is for the higher minded person, the person who does not have to cling on to a formula for an absolute answer and then condemn all others that fail to agree. And so it is the liberal, the open ended democratic, the agnostic, the skeptics, that raise themselves in inclusivity and tolerance over the conservatives, the orthodox, the religionists. Pragmatism is spiritual, tolerant and grows, while absolutism is stagnant.

What James presents is the ability to look beyond each of our theories of truth, perceptions of reality, idealism's and see all such objectively as we view outside of our thinking patterns and so-called truths. We enter an area apart from our absolutes, securities and theorems.

If you follow the pragmatic method, you cannot look to a closing absolute theory. Not a solution, but an on going process of questioning, answering and creating in an objectivity of many theories which about contrast and contradict each others. Theories thus become instruments, not answers to enigmas, to rest in, but a continual movement forward verifying truths and comparing with others, elaborating on, reshaping, recreating new paradigms and meanings, within the context of the present moment of time. The aim is it's cash value, its practical utility in working toward the good; the organizing, the unity; that is, within a diversity; the democratic, equalitarian, rights to pursue life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. What follows towards disunity, chaos, divisiveness is that which is discarded.

The corridor theory of pragmatism, James gives as: "pragmatism stands for no particular results, no dogmas, no doctrines, but objectively considers all theories like a corridor in a hotel with innumerable rooms open out of it. In one you may find atheism, the other - theism, the third - skeptics, the fourth - metaphysical thinkers, the fifth - anti-metaphysical, but all of these ideas must pass through the corridor if they want a practicable way of getting into or out of their respective rooms. So its not a particular resulting theory but an attitude of orientation. The attitude of looking away from the first things, principles, 'categories,' supposed necessities; which prevent the practical application towards wholeness. The end result is always of higher value than the immediate part or theory that one is enveloped in.

There is a rearranging of truths, a verifying process, a copying of workable axioms, but more; objectively creating, art, creation, built on previous truths and our mental verification processes of levels of 'facts' we consider absolute or the level to stop reduction. We know there is no apriori, we understand that truths are created conceptions based on their conceptual relationships with other conceptions, webs of thought-relations we derive as equations and answers from verifications of previous created truths. And yet there is something outside of all these truths, a directions we aim for, a movement towards a higher point, the point of good, or the Platonic-Socratic meaning of good; unity, peace. And here we are towards the unity from diversity in the democratic process. The absolutes are given up as objective observers putting a net of concepts over all others, the conceptual net of comparing, of space and time, the same or different, subjects and attributes and so forth.

Pragmatism is pluralism without independence, it is multiple perceptions, multiple theories and ideas, each valuable in what lens you are looking though, each having more or less practical attributes depending on who it is and from where they are thinking from, however, not in a blindless realitivity, which the critics and conservatives so inadequately accuse. Pragamatism is pluralistic, but not entirely, as it is a pluralism towards a monistic unity or purpose of practical and utilitarian means, the means of the good; the harmonious peace of unity from diversity, tolerance and inclusive creativity that retains values.

There is quite more details in this and this book is significant in restoring the pragmatist ideas in the Whitman, Emmersonian, Dewey and James - American democracy, which as eroded and in need of repair, or then again, in creating the democracy that never truly was, but only in ideals and aims. Perhaps one day, even after a major regression toward totalitarianism and tyranny, an honest-optimistic, open-democratic pragmatism will come about working towards a unity of practical application which goes far beyond an application of monetary capitalism, but a unity from democratic diversity in an monetary equalitarian society.