The Role of Religious Belief in James's Pragmatism

Ralph Barton Perry notes that pragmatism is the movement that begins with William James's misunderstanding of Charles Sanders Peirce. Perry's observation is perceptive in two respects. First, James clearly misunderstood Peirce's pragmatic principle. Indeed, James's interpretation of Peirce's pragmatic point of view caused Peirce to change its name from pragmat i sm to "pragmaticism"—a term Peirce thought "ugly enough to be kept safe from kidnappers." 2 Peirce's strong reaction to James's misunderstanding is not without warrant. For, while Peirce stressed the universal and long-term consequences of a pragmatic way of thinking, James emphasized its particular and immediate ones. Secondly, although James himself acknowledged Peirce as the founder of pragmatism, the pragmatic movement did not truly begin with Peirce. Rather, pragmatism became a movement only when it became the object of James's concern. Perhaps, more than any other factor, James's inimitable manner of presentation—whether in the lecture hall or in print—brought the pragmatic way of thinking into the popular consciousness. By his own admission, James discovered in Peirce's principle a means of making philosophy a matter of public debate and concern. As Cornel West observes, James's contribution "consists of popularizing the personal and moral implications of the pragmatic perspective initiated by Peirce." 3 Indeed, a concern for the personal and the moral implications of pragmatism dominates James's thinking. From early to late in his philosophical career, he occupies himself, in West's words, with "the heroic energies and reconciliatory strategies available to individuals." 4 No less consistent than James's concern for the personal and moral implications of pragmatism is his concern for its religious ones. The Gifford Lectures of 1901-02 (later published