Ep. 20: Pragmatism

Product Description

On Pragmatism (1907) by William James and “The Fixation of Belief” (1877) and “How to Make Our Ideas Clear” (1878) by Charles Sanders Peirce (which can be found in Philosophical Writings of Peirce).

Is truth a primitive relation between our representations and things objectively in the world, or is it an analyzable process by which propositions “prove their worth” by being useful in some way, like by fitting well with other portions of our experience or being delicious? Peirce, the inventor of pragmatism, focuses on the philosophy of science and thinks of inquiry as a way for us to just settle on any belief we can stomach. James, who popularized pragmatism, has a wider view that applies not only to science but to religious beliefs.

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Running Time: 2 hrs, 8 min. Recorded: May 16, 2010. Participants: Mark, Wes, Seth, Dylan.

As a bonus, your purchase includes a high-bitrate mp3 of the song that concludes the episode, “Friend” from Mark’s album Mark Lint and the Fake Johnson Trio (1998)