Pragmatism

Another reader of this blog responded to the comments in Dialogue - part 2:

Further, I imagine that William James rolls over in his grave at what people sometimes mean these days by “pragmatism”… which has sadly become a code word for “the end justifies the means.”

I’m no expert in James, but I don’t believe that’s what he intended. When I was working closely with colleagues in France, I often saw misunderstandings whose roots were in the French need for an underlying philosophy or theory when undertaking almost anything -- compared to their perception that Americans will “shoot from the hip”, laying waste through serial trial-and-error and eventually declaring that the first workable idea must be anointed as the best one, even if it can’t be reconciled with any rational philosophy or theory.

On occasion the French predisposition for theory could result in “analysis paralysis”, but there are dangers in the American predisposition too. Just look at Iraq

Pragmatism as a school of philosophy holds “the meaning of a doctrine is the same as the practical effects of adopting it.” (Simon Blackburn, “Pragmatism,” The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1994), p. 297)

One of the leading exponents of pragmatism today is Cornel West who integrates a version of Richard Rorty’s interpretation of pragmatism with what West terms prophetic Christianity. Prophetic Christianity emphasizes establishing justice on earth. Although my one line summary of prophetic Christianity would probably scandalize a friend of mine who is writing his PhD dissertation on West, prophetic Christianity represents a helpful and much needed corrective for those forms of Christianity that attempt to add a religious imprimatur to the status quo. Two of West’s books are highly accessible to the general public and worth reading: Race Matters and Democracy Matters.

A chaplain colleague often spoke of a “working faith.” A religion that offers no help for daily living seems worthless, i.e., not pragmatic. Pragmatism, however, as the correspondent noted, is not synonymous with utilitarianism, the greatest good for the greatest number. Pragmatism connotes a basic philosophical approach to life and not a rubric for ethical decision making.