Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A scientist, he took up philosophy as a hobby. He was a teacher of mathematics at John Hopkins University and for many years was employed by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey. It is claimed by Jeremy Harwood in Philosophy - 100 Great Thinkers, that Peirce worked by the scientific method in aiming to dispel philosophical doubt, believing that logic should be the basis of all philosophical theory. According to Bertrand Russell Peirce's theory has some fundamental flaws.
The Principles and Flaws of Pragmatism
In History of Western Philosophy, Russell describes how the pragmatist and psychologist from New York, William James (1842-1910) credits Charles Sanders Peirce with being the first to enunciate the principle of pragmaticism. He quotes Peirce's words: "To attain clearness in our thoughts of an object, we need only consider what conceivable effects of a practical kind the object might involve."
William James' view is that the purpose of philosophy is to discover what difference philosophy makes to "you or me" in order to ascertain which world-formula is true. This causes theories to be used as instruments, and not as answers to enigmas. In other words, an idea can be seen to be true if it is profitable or beneficial. "Truth happens to an idea, it is made true by events." The truth needs to agree with reality, but not copy it, James believes.
Benevolence, not Philosophy, says Bertrand Russell
Russell himself does not think much of this as a theory. He suggests Santa Claus as a hypothesis. In the widest sense of the word, that Santa Claus exists is true, although Santa Claus does not - actually - exist. "No wonder the Pope condemned the pragmatic defence of religion," says Russell. Russell continues by explaining that James wants people to be happy, and if belief in God makes them happy, let them believe in Him. "This, so far, is only benevolence, not philosophy," says Russell. It may be true that belief makes people happy, but that doesn't prove that God is an actual being.
Peirce states, "If one can define accurately all the conceivable experimental phenomena which the affirmation of denial of a concept could imply, one will have a complete definition of the concept." Everything rests on achieving a "consensus of opinion." Without it, Peirce thinks he could not discover the truth. In other words, reality is what the consensus of opinion says it is.
The pragmatists' attempt to build belief on scepticism is bound to fail, says Bertrand Russell, simply from an attempt to ignore extra-human facts, and so Russell dismisses the entire theory as a fallacy.
A Theory of Meaning, a Theory of Truth or Subjective Madness?
For Peirce, pragmatism is a theory of meaning, and for James, it is a theory of truth. But for Russell it is "a form of subjective madness, characteristic of most modern philosophy."
Background Notes
William James, who was the brother of novelist, Henry James, was disappointed with the final ms of his first book, in in-depth analysis of the mind, which he described as "a loathsome, distended, bloated, dropsical mass." After this, he decided to concentrate on philosophy. Peirce became the victim of a financial scandal and lived in poverty for most of his life, although he was later found to be innocent.
Sources:
- Russell, Bertrand, History of Western Philosophy, Routledge Classics, 2004
- Harwood, Jeremy, Philosophy, 100 Great Thinkers, Quercus, 2010.
Janet Cameron - MA. Cert.Ed. is a retired university lecturer and author of twelve books, women's short fiction and a magazine column.
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