The American Pragmatists were all profoundly influenced by Darwin’s publication of “On the Origin of Species.” The originators of Pragmatism, including Charles Sanders Peirce who coined the term and William James who popularized it, were …
John Dewey and the Unity of Mind and Matter
One of the challenges of the philosophy of Pragmatism is that it is too easy to reduce its complexity and subtlety to simple utilitarianism. Some of the same language that William James used to almost …
Freewill and Human Bubbles
When you begin to ask questions like, “Do human beings have free will?” as we have done in my last few posts, you enter into thorny philosophical territory. My understanding of Charles Sanders Peirce logic …
Are we a Self or a Self-Concept?
Pragmatism was a philosophy that emerged directly out of The Enlightenment that initiated the “modern revolution” and it helps when thinking about Pragmatism to think about it in relationship to The Enlightenment and the new ways …
Characteristics of an Evolving Universe
Before continuing with my thoughts about free will, I thought it would be good to take a step back and take a wide angle look at what evolution and more specifically conscious evolution is all …
The Curious Case of John Elof Boodin vs. Charles Darwin
The American philosophy of Pragmatism was in many ways a direct response to Darwin’s publication of “On the Origin of Species.” The early Pragmatists were trying to apply the same logic to philosophy that Darwin …
Nature Mystics and Scientific Progressives
The European Enlightenment produced two responses; Scientific Rationalism and Romanticism. The Scientific Rationalism represented in the science of Sir Isaac Newton and the philosophy of John Locke. Romanticism produced the writing of Goethe in Germany …
During times of crisis, Philosophy is not a Luxury
When we face mounting challenges and global crisis like we are now, we are tempted to see philosophy as a luxury item that we can no longer afford. It’s not! In fact, in the face …
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Spiritual but not Religious
It is not uncommon today to find certain segments of society in America and even more so in Europe who would describe themselves as spiritual but not religious. After The Enlightenment in Europe, science and …
The American Embrace of Evolution
The philosophy of Pragmatism that I have begun to discuss in my previous posts is probably the most uniquely American formation of philosophy. It is, of course, building on, and in response to, its European …