Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking

James begins this lecture by summarizing what we have learned so far: pragmatism, instead of adopting an attitude of “admiring contemplation” toward reality, “plunges forward into the river of experience” and judges all ideas on the basis of the “promise” they hold as to “this world’s outcome” (49). Typical of his popular style, James uses a physical metaphor to illustrate an abstract concept: Pragmatism helps us (fish) see that all our abstract ideas (air) must pass through and take into account concrete realities (water):

We are like fishes swimming in the sea of sense, bounded above by the superior element, but unable to breathe it pure or penetrate it […] We get our oxygen from it, however, we touch it incessantly […] and every time we touch it, we are reflected back into the water with our course re-determined and re-energized (49).

James applies the pragmatic method to another traditional philosophical concept: the problem of “the one and the many.” This deals with the question of whether reality is a unity or a plurality; whether the world consists of a single system or of many parts—and if many parts, how these might relate to one another. The two opposing positions taken in this issue are monism (reality is one) and pluralism (reality is plural). (See Index of Terms for more discussion.)

James argues that although philosophy has tended to emphasize the unity in reality, it is just as important to discover the variety: “Acquaintance with reality’s diversities is as important as understanding their connexion” (50). Ultimately, what our minds crave is not just unity or plurality, but totality—the sum total of both oneness and many-ness. We should seek out the individual facts of nature, and then recognize that these facts work together to make a whole world. James argues that though oneness is an obvious fact of the universe, it does not preclude variety and diversity.

Above all, pragmatism asks what practical consequences follow from unity or plurality. James discusses eight ways in which the oneness of the universe could make a practical difference:

1. If there were not some degree of unity in the world, we could not even call it “a world.”
2. If the universe is one, its various parts must somehow hang together. Space and time create continuity for its parts.
3. There are “lines of influence” (52), by which disparate things are joined together into a system. For example, in science, the forces of gravity or electricity join objects together; similarly, in human social life individuals are connected through networks of acquaintances. The world is becoming ever more connected and unified through the aid of science.
4. All these systems of influence trace back to “one great first cause” (53), which traditional philosophy ascribes to God. 
5. The most important type of unity among things is generic unity, or the organization of things into different kinds or species.
6. There may exist in the universe a teleological unity, or “unity of purpose” (54), by which different things and people cooperate for a common purpose—possibly a single overarching purpose.
7. There is an “aesthetic union” among things, by which they “tell a story” or “work out to a climax” (55). There are any number of intertwining stories in our lives and the world at large.
8. Monists propose that there is one great Knower (God) that provides the principle of unity in the world. The concept of an omniscient power has many practical consequences, some of which James discussed in Lecture 2.

James leans toward the view of the universe as pluralistic, and believes that the pragmatic method will tend to reveal the universe as plural. Although he concedes that there is oneness to the universe, as a pragmatist he believes that the concept of plurality or variety holds more practical meaning for us. This means that monism belongs more properly to a mystical than to a practical school of thought. He quotes the 19th century Hindu religious thinker Swami Vivekananda at length in illustration of the idea that all things are one and separateness is merely an illusion. Although he does not wholly accept it, James concedes that this philosophy has pragmatic value, showing once again his tendency to see multiple sides to a philosophical issue. During James’s lifetime, East Asian thought was becoming more familiar in the West, thanks in large part to figures like Vivekananda. James’s treatment of his thought shows his awareness of a broader philosophical world beyond Europe and America.

In the end, James concludes that pragmatism must reject both total monism and total pluralism. Rather, pragmatism affirms that the world is one to the extent that its parts hang together by various connections, and plural to the extent that the parts remain unconnected and separate; it is growing more and more unified, thanks to human ingenuity. James calls this view common sense—something he will address in the next lecture.

Although seemingly very abstract, the subject matter of this lecture paves the way for the more specific questions of truth and knowledge of subsequent lectures. James depicts two broad worldviews involving the basic structure of reality, from which he can then pass to more practical and concrete concerns.