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Cambridge Pragmatism: From Peirce and James to Ramsey and Wittgenstein
Cheryl Misak offers a strikingly new view of the development of philosophy in the twentieth century. Pragmatism, the home-grown philosophy of America, thinks of truth not as a static relation between a sentence and the believer-independent world, but rather, a belief that works. The founders of pragmatism, Peirce and James, developed this idea in more (Peirce) and less (James) objective ways.
The standard story of the reception of American pragmatism in England is that Russell and Moore savaged James's theory, and that pragmatism has never fully recovered. An alternative, and underappreciated, story is told here. The brilliant Cambridge mathematician, philosopher and economist, Frank Ramsey, was in the mid-1920s heavily influenced by the almost-unheard-of Peirce and was developing a pragmatist position of great promise. He then transmitted that pragmatism to his friend Wittgenstein, although had Ramsey lived past the age of 26 to see what Wittgenstein did with that position, Ramsey would not have liked what he saw.
The standard story of the reception of American pragmatism in England is that Russell and Moore savaged James's theory, and that pragmatism has never fully recovered. An alternative, and underappreciated, story is told here. The brilliant Cambridge mathematician, philosopher and economist, Frank Ramsey, was in the mid-1920s heavily influenced by the almost-unheard-of Peirce and was developing a pragmatist position of great promise. He then transmitted that pragmatism to his friend Wittgenstein, although had Ramsey lived past the age of 26 to see what Wittgenstein did with that position, Ramsey would not have liked what he saw.
- GenresPhilosophyNonfiction
432 pages, Hardcover
Published October 18, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 10, 2022
Review to follow. Much to process.
This is a book by a philosopher on pragmatism. Louis Menand wrote a wonderful book in 2001 that was more a founding history of pragmatism focusing on the work of C.S. Peirce, William James, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., and John Dewey. There were others associated with pragmatism but Menand’s focus is on the discussion clus that brought these thinkers together following the Civil War. The book is well worth reading on its own merits.
Cheryl Misak is a Canadian philosopher and historian at the University of Toronto and her book -
“Cambridge Pragmatism” can be read as a follow-up of sorts to Menand’s book. She is much more focused on the philosophical works and positions associated with pragmatism, so she spends considerable time and effort reviewing and analyzing the basic positions of pragmatism as they are expressed in the works of Peirce and James. There were significant differences in what pragmatism was claimed to be by different philosophers at different. One position, associated more with James, is that pragmatism has the usefulness of ideas associated with ideas of truth which in turn became associated with more subjectivist positions. Another position, more associated with Peirce, is that pragmatism involves our thoughts on key issues as being mediated by the external world in which we live, work, and think, which leads to thought have more implications for our actions.
(Thesew arguments are of course much more specific and this distinction is a general one.). Misak does a fine job and readers should dive into her work.
The surprising “hook” for this book comes from the word “Cambridge” which here refers not just to the university town in Massachusetts but also to Cambridge University in the UK. The general story is that pragmatist ideas by way of James, Peirce, and others, made their way across the Atlantic and influenced the course of philosophy at C;ambridge just before WW1 but more importantly in the interwar period, when through the work of Frank Ramsey, this thought came to influence Russell and even Wittgenstein, although it does not seem like a Cambridge pragmatism developed a named following at Cambridge University. This is more a study in the transfer of ideas in various ways. Some of the earlier transfers were not well accommodated due to subjectivist concerns. Later transfers were influenced by Peirce’s more developed and less subjectivist work.
There is a lot to chew on here and I am still processing. This book is not a quick read by it is a wonderful book that is well worth engaging with.
This is a book by a philosopher on pragmatism. Louis Menand wrote a wonderful book in 2001 that was more a founding history of pragmatism focusing on the work of C.S. Peirce, William James, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., and John Dewey. There were others associated with pragmatism but Menand’s focus is on the discussion clus that brought these thinkers together following the Civil War. The book is well worth reading on its own merits.
Cheryl Misak is a Canadian philosopher and historian at the University of Toronto and her book -
“Cambridge Pragmatism” can be read as a follow-up of sorts to Menand’s book. She is much more focused on the philosophical works and positions associated with pragmatism, so she spends considerable time and effort reviewing and analyzing the basic positions of pragmatism as they are expressed in the works of Peirce and James. There were significant differences in what pragmatism was claimed to be by different philosophers at different. One position, associated more with James, is that pragmatism has the usefulness of ideas associated with ideas of truth which in turn became associated with more subjectivist positions. Another position, more associated with Peirce, is that pragmatism involves our thoughts on key issues as being mediated by the external world in which we live, work, and think, which leads to thought have more implications for our actions.
(Thesew arguments are of course much more specific and this distinction is a general one.). Misak does a fine job and readers should dive into her work.
The surprising “hook” for this book comes from the word “Cambridge” which here refers not just to the university town in Massachusetts but also to Cambridge University in the UK. The general story is that pragmatist ideas by way of James, Peirce, and others, made their way across the Atlantic and influenced the course of philosophy at C;ambridge just before WW1 but more importantly in the interwar period, when through the work of Frank Ramsey, this thought came to influence Russell and even Wittgenstein, although it does not seem like a Cambridge pragmatism developed a named following at Cambridge University. This is more a study in the transfer of ideas in various ways. Some of the earlier transfers were not well accommodated due to subjectivist concerns. Later transfers were influenced by Peirce’s more developed and less subjectivist work.
There is a lot to chew on here and I am still processing. This book is not a quick read by it is a wonderful book that is well worth engaging with.
August 31, 2024
Pragmatism and its links to the Analytic movement in Anglo-American philosophy of the 20th Century.
Sometimes bordering on gossip, this book nevertheless does a good job laying out the issues and solutions proposed by these important thinkers.
But it gets down to the meat with the chapters on Frank Ramsey and Wittgenstein. I came away with a much better appreciation of both of them and the pragmatist elements of their thought.
Sometimes bordering on gossip, this book nevertheless does a good job laying out the issues and solutions proposed by these important thinkers.
But it gets down to the meat with the chapters on Frank Ramsey and Wittgenstein. I came away with a much better appreciation of both of them and the pragmatist elements of their thought.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews