Dewey believed that these two points were extremely important to James’s philosophy “because in his later period, his philosophy is based almost entirely on these two points” (Dewey, 2005). The former holds that the experience of mankind is universal and common, and cannot be generalized by a few abstract concepts and the latter emphasizes that each person has his own individuality, and maintains that there are no absolute things.
He gave his own philosophy two names: one is radical empiricism, and the other is pluralism. All important parts of Jamesian philosophy in James’s late days were a development based on this. Dewey’s recommendation and analysis of Jamesian philosophy can largely be divided into the following aspects:įirstly, James laid emphasis on individuality while he stressed the universality of mankind he opposed absolutism, which asserts “only one truth”. In particular, his introduction to James and Jamesian philosophy was the most elaborate compared to the other two. During His Journey in China, Dewey Systematically Introduced James’s Philosophyįrom Maon, Dewey gave six lectures at the Hall of the Subject of Law of the Peking University, specially introducing the three philosophers of William James, Henri Bergson and Bertrand Arthur William Russell. According to incomplete statistics, merely around Dewey’s stay in China, more than tens of relevant essays had been published.ġ.1. In addition, Chinese scholars had written and published many essays to introduce, expound and comment pragmatism. An important sign of the climax of spread of pragmatism in China during this period was that pragmatic philosopher Dewey, by invitation, gave lectures to educational groups in 11 provinces and cities during his visit to China, with his lectures warmly welcomed and published on various journals and newspapers, respectively. The methodology of experimental sciences and the theory of truth about practice and utility, which are energetically promoted by pragmatism, as well as the democratic education advocated by pragmatist John Dewey, etc., reflected the need of the progressive Chinese intellectuals back then to oppose the impractical, obsolete academic style of “devoting the entire life to the study of texts” and promote new culture and new style of study, and meanwhile met people’s requirements for sciences and democracy. American pragmatism, as an academic trend of Western modern philosophy, rapidly developed into a summit of dissemination in China, which was one of the major signs of this phenomenon. In the beginning of the 20th century, a remarkable phenomenon emerged in the eastward spread of Western learning. The period from around the May Fourth Movement to the 1940s witnessed the beginning of a journey of pragmatism in China James’s thought was hence introduced into Chinese academic circles and ideological and cultural circles, and meanwhile met with criticism from the scholars. From around the May Fourth Movement to the 1940s, James’s Thought Was Introduced into China and Received Criticism from Chinese Scholars Pragmatism, and meanwhile explore the dynamic relationship between Jamesian andĬhinese philosophies from the perspective of comparative philosophy.ġ. Philosophy of mind, political philosophy and religious philosophy in James’s Multidisciplinary research on the philosophy of value, jurisprudential thought, Influence of James’s philosophy both in the history of Western philosophy and James’s position in pragmatic philosophy, and make clear the position and Investigate important conceptions in James’s pragmatism, study the clue ofĭevelopment and academic direction of thought therein, analyze and summarize In carrying forward the academic research on Jamesian philosophy,Ĭhinese scholars should present its landmark achievements in the collation,Įdition, translation and study of classics concerning Jamesian philosophy, Pragmatism, and attempted to re-examine pragmatism, including James’s Scholars ha ve tried to take the attitude of seeking truth from facts in commenting 2) In the 1950s andġ960s, during the criticism against pragmatism among Chinese scholars, Jamesian Received criticism from Chinese scholars at the same time. The May Fourth Movement in 1919 to the 1940s, pragmatism started its journey inĬhina James’s thought was introduced to the circles of scholars in China, and Of Jamesian philosophy in China has gone through three stages: 1) From around Translation and publication of James’ s works, both in China, are closelyĬonnected with the spread and study of pragmatic philosophy therein. William James was a major representative figure for American pragmatism.
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