Pragmatism and Empiricism in American Religious Thought Unit

Roundtable on New Genealogies of Pragmatism: Materialist Influences, Institution Builders, Hands-on Work

Nearly four decades ago, in The American Evasion of Philosophy, Cornel West offered a novel genealogy of American pragmatism. This roundtable builds on that tradition, inviting submissions that further expand our understanding of the origins and development of pragmatist thought. We are particularly interested in contributions that are attentive to the material conditions from which pragmatist ways of thinking arose. Did CS Peirce’s poverty in later life influence his writings on pragmaticism (particularly his emphasis on experiment)? How did ideals of agrarian return to the land and communion with nature shape the proto-pragmatism of Thoreau and Emerson (or how did their relative privilege affect the practical implementation of those ideals). Can such analysis help us identify underappreciated pragmatic thinkers and doers?--people like Booker T. Washington or Anna Julia Cooper, whose material realities, very much related to taken lands, spurred them to do meaningful hands-on and institution building work.

Those who submit proposals to this roundtable should prepare a shorter presentation (around 10 minutes) in order to leave ample time for open discussion with the panel and audience

Pragmatic Reflections on Meliorism, Despair, and Realism

Pragmatists and Empiricists often present what seems like an optimistic philosophical and/or theological worldview. Peirce argued that the universe would grow together (synechism) in a process of evolutionary love (agapism); his early writings suggest that the dedicated community of inquirers would converge upon truth in the infinite long run. Peirce and Neville both make the case that all things are beautiful in their own way. Dewey argued that communal inquiry, in democratic and scientific arrangements, would enable society to include the broadest array of hypotheses and habits, test them out, and adopt the thought-practices that worked best. West argues that the “anti-democratic dogmas” of racism, classism, free-market fundamentalism, and militarism undermine democracy, but also that citizens can fight against these imperial forces through a commitment to democratic principles and participation in the democratic process in the revitalization of the spirit of American democracy. On the whole, Pragmatists tend to believe that the world can be improved through human effort, even if such progress is piecemeal and imperfect. 

·      Is this pragmatic meliorism still relevant when many people feel locked in a repeating cycle of hopelessness?

·      How do Pragmatic concepts of interest, boredom, ennui, acedia, musement, spiritual practice, and despair relate to one another? How might Peirce’s or Raposa’s development of these concepts provide a more holistic account of human experience than merely meliorism does?

·      What lessons can we learn from people who have lived in hopeless times, difficult or impossible situations (e.g., Anna Julia Cooper), and how can we apply those lessons to our own situation?

·      Can democratic principles actually overcome anti-democratic dogmas (West)? What happens when the ideas and practices that a community opts for actually undermine the stability of the inquiry (Dewey or Peirce)? What happens when the dedicated community of inquirers loses interest in or dedication to the inquiry? 

·      What if human society, or the cosmos, does not grow together in evolutionary love or if the arc of the universe fails to bend toward justice, as Peirce and Martin Luther King, Jr. had hoped? What if processes are stochastic? Can the values achieved in small pockets of the universe still be appreciated if things eventually grow apart or end in lifelessness?