Conversion in American Philosophy: Exploring the Practice of Transformation (review)

444 Book Reviews Conversion in American Philosophy: Exploring the Practice of Transformation Roger Ward New York: Fordham University Press, 2004. xli + 235 pp. The central purpose of this book is to explore the characteristics of conversion in American Pragmatism as developed in the philosophies of Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and John Dewey. Ward begins with an analysis of Jonathan Edwards and ends with the contemporary American thinkers Richard Rorty, Robert Corrington, and Cornel West. An understanding of the multifarious elements of religion, religious culture, and the community requires an understanding of the process of conversion and human transformation. Ward says the study of conversion is "philosophy as a way of tending to the soul". Unfortunately, this kind of philosophical analysis has been passed over. Ward's attempt to reintroduce conversion to philosophy, therefore, is a fresh and original project that opens the path for serious philosophical reflection on a theme that rightly deserves such attention. The book is divided into a preface, an introduction, and seven chapters. In Chapter One, Ward presents Jonathan Edwards's version of conversion as a model of conversion. He focuses on Edwards's "A Divine and Supernatural Light" (1734), A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Works of God (1737), and Religious Affections (1746). Ward's analysis of conversion in Edwards's Religious Affections is not only an integral part of the central theme of his project; it is also a valuable analysis in itself. Ward breaks new ground by arguing that "...understanding and describing conversion is Edwards's highest reflective goal, and ... in the text Religious Affections he presents a philosophically structured account of religious conversion" (p. 2). For Edwards, religious conversion is caused by the Divine, and all spiritual experiences produce a transformation in a person's "heart," which is substantially different from transformations that are caused by a person's intellect or some other natural phenomenon. Religious conversion, according to Edwards, entails a radical transformation of a person's nature. In Chapter Two, Ward discusses Peirce's philosophy and how it relates to religious conversion and human transformation. Ward focuses on three works of Peirce: "The Law of Mind," "Evolutionary Love," and "A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God". I will have more to say on Ward's discussion of Peirce below. Chapter Three turns to an analysis of Dewey's A Common Faith. Ward treats each essay in A Common Faith in order: "Religion versus Religious," "Faith and its Object," and "The Human Abode of the Religious Function." Dewey's conception of religious transformations requires the rejection of religion and its authority, making Dewey's conception of Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society Spring, 2005, Vol. XLI, No. 2 Book Reviews 445 conversion the most antagonistic towards religion. Ward begins with Dewey's distinction between "religion" and "the religious". Dewey's attempt, in part, is to develop a new platform from which conversion can take place. Indeed, for Dewey, the only platform from which real transformation can take place is the "religious" as opposed to "religion". The shift requires leaving behind institutionalized religion and its dependence on the supernatural, a combination that creates an authoritative social structure repressive for genuine free "religious" transformation. Ward explains: "Dewey's faith is built on the cornerstone 'that the reverence shown by a free and self-respecting human being is better than the servile obedience rendered to an arbitrary power by frightened men'" (p. 67). Conversion for Dewey entails an overcoming of religion and a movement towards a democratic society. This process of transformation also requires "building the common ground between individual and community" which is the topic of the third and final essay, "The Human Abode of the Religious Function." According to Ward, "Dewey is not an aggressive atheist, but he is an aggressive naturalist" (p. 83). Dewey calls for Religion to surrender to science. In the end, it is not certain whether Dewey is reconstructing or deconstructing religion, or both. In Chapter Four, Ward treats James's view of conversion in Varieties of Religious Experience, his book Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking, and his essay "The Will to Believe". Ward acknowledges James's overwhelming influence on...