Pragmatism as Idealism? The Case of Mary Whiton Calkins.
Journal of the history of the behavioral sciences April 1, 2025 Lisa Kampen 2 citations
Mary Whiton Calkins challenged the traditional view that American pragmatism was purely a logico-philosophical movement opposed to idealism. She argued that pragmatism includes psychological, logical, and metaphysical doctrines, and she characterized "metaphysical pragmatism" as a form of idealism. Calkins held that psychology should study reality as experienced through introspection, while philosophy should address the metaphysical nature of that reality. She understood pragmatism's pluralism as a "pluralistic personalism," where reality consists of a plurality of conscious selves. She rejected metaphysical pragmatism because she believed pluralism could not account for absolute truth, but she supported psychological pragmatism as metaphysically neutral.