Episode #154 - Pragmatism and Truth
Pragmatism and Truth
This episode introduces the core ideas of pragmatism by tracing how philosophers like Charles Sanders Peirce and William James responded to the crisis of certainty in modern thought. As traditional paths to truth—such as solipsism, foundationalism, and the correspondence theory—began to break down, pragmatists proposed a new way forward: defining truth not as a fixed essence or correspondence to reality, but as a process grounded in human action and communal inquiry. Truth, for the pragmatists, is what proves itself useful over time—what people collectively converge on through experience and experimentation. The episode also explores James’s view of free will and how personal temperament shapes our relationship with truth and meaning. Through the lens of healthy-mindedness and sick-souled awareness, James presents a pluralistic understanding of religious experience and emphasizes the power of belief in shaping our reality—arguing that in a world without certainty, our actions and intentions help bring truth into being.
Further Reading:
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James (1907)
Pragmatism as a Principle and Method of Right Thinking: The 1903 Harvard Lectures on Pragmatism by Charles Sanders Peirce (1997)
The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America by Louis Menand (2001)
See the full transcript here.
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