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Page 1 Ms 318 PRAGMATISM [3] Mr. Editor The philosophical journals, the world over, are just now brimming over, as you know, with pragmatism and antipragmatism. The number of [Bernards/rewards] that reaches me this morning has an admirable piece on the subject by a writer of genius and of literary skill, Giovanni Papini. Yesterday brought news of discussions along the same line in New Zealand. Often, however, one hears glib utterances that betray complete misunderstanding of this new ingredient of the thought of our time, so that I gladly accept your invitation to explain what pragmatism really is, how it comes into being, and whither it is tending. Any philosphoical doctrine that should be completely new could hardly fail to prove completely false; but the the rivulets of the head of the river of pragmatism are easily traced back to almost any desired antiquity.
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Prag 2 Socrates bathed in these waters. Aristotle rejoices when he can find them. They run, where best one would suspect them, beneath the dry rubbish-heaps of Spinoza. Those clean definitions that strew the pages of the "Essay concerning Humane Understnaing"(preface to reform the spelling) had been washed out in the same pure springs. It was this medium, and not tar-water, that gave health and strength to Berkeley's earlier works, his 'Theory of Vision' and what remains of his 'Principles.' From it the general views of Kant derives such clearness as they have. Auguste Comte made still more much more, use of this element; as much as he saw his way to using. Unfortunately, however, both he and Kant, in their rather opposite ways, more in the habit of mingling these sparkling waters with a certain mental sedative to which many men are addicted, and the burly business men very likely to their benefit, but which plays sad havoc