The historic emergence of American pragmatism

pp. 42-68

in: Cornel West, The American evasion of philosophy, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 1989

Abstract

American pragmatism can be understood as what happens to the Emersonian evasion of epistemology-centered philosophy when forced to justify itself within the professional perimeters of academic philosophy. The first articulators of American pragmatism — members of the Metaphysical Club in Cambridge, Massachusetts — were learned professionals principally interested in demystifying science and, a few, in modernizing religion.¹ Unlike Emerson, they were preoccupied with method, yet their understanding of method was quite Emersonian. Much like Emerson, they were intent on viewing science as continuous with religion — both shot through with moral purpose.