Meaning and Action: A Critical History of Pragmatism (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 241 Professor Etzkorn translates (p. 46): The great enterprise of the spirit succeeds innumerable times in overcoming the object as such by rvaking all object of itself, returning to itself enriched by its creation. But the spirit has to pay for this self-perfection with the tragic potential that a logic and dynamic is inevitably created by the unique laws of its own world which increasingly separates the contents of culture from its essewdal meaning and value. It should more nearly be rendered thus: The great enterprise of the spirit--to overcome the object as such by creating itself as an object in order to return to itself enriched by this creation--succeeds innumerable times; but the spirit must pay for this self-perfection with the tragic chance of seeing that the autonomy of the world which the spirit itself has created and which gives rise to this chance, produces a logic and a dynamic which with ever increasing acceleration lead the contents of culture ever farther away from the purpose of culture. On page 93 ("The Dramatic Actor and Reality"), "Und nun schliel3t der Naturalismus:" ("And now naturalism concludes:") becomes "At this point the contribution of naturalism ends." And so on. It is a pity that Professor Etzkorn does not show himself sufficiently persuaded by a translator's awful responsibility, or not sufficiently informed of it--although his rendition is somewhat more competent than that of Simmel's Die Religion (Sociology of Religion [New York: Philosophical Library, 1959]). KURT H. WOLFF Brandeis University Meaning and Action: A Critical History of Pragmatism. By H. S. Thayer. (Indianapolis; New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1968. Pp. xx+572. $10) A pragmatic history of pragmatism, this volume points out, in terms of the background out of which it has emerged and the forms it has taken, what remains vital and promising in pragmatism for future philosophizing. Professor Thayer traces the fundamental problem of the pragmatists---the problem of the relation between science and values--from its Cartesian origin, through the crucial formulations of Locke and Newton as modified by Hurne and Berkeley, to the responses of Kant and Fichte as modified by Hegel and Darwin. Fichte is credited equally with Kant as the source of the Hegelian anticipation of pragmatism, and Fichte's connection with pragmatism is debited as a basis for much of the misunderstanding and criticism of that philosophy. The longest section of the book is devoted to accounts of five American pragmatists: Peirce, James, Dewey, Lewis, and Mead. Peirce's theories of inquiry, meaning, and truth are examined critically as major constitutents of the foundation of pragmatism. James is presented as having no real interest in a theory of meaning and as basing his theory of truth on his ethical theory. Thayer further argues that James confused truth and method of verification. The most extensive and most sympathetic account is that of Dewey's philosophy, and it is evident that the author considers Dewey's the most thoroughly worked out statement of basic pragmatic principles. Lewis and Mead are discussed as representing important developments of aspects of pragmatism; in Lewis' case, his epistemology, and in Mead's, his social psychology. The treatment of Lewis is more critical than is that of Mead (who is closer to Dewey), but Thayer does say that Mead's behavioral analysis of mind is uncompleted. 242 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY When the author turns to European pragmatism, he finds it somewhat less than pragmatic. F. C. S. Schiller is shown as developing a philosophy essentially independent of pragmatism, incorporating as it does an egocentrism that goes well beyond any such individualism as can be attributed even to James. A brief, tentative case is made for pragmatic influences on F. P. Ramsey and Wittgenstein, more especially for Ramsey 's awareness of Peirce and for a more general awareness of Peirce and James in England through the offices of Lady Welby. James's notion that pragmatism was a world movement of which he was a leader, however, is called a product of lames's enthusiasm and his willingness to see more in surface similarities than can be justified upon closer examination of the works of his "European...