Meaning of Truth, The

The Oxford Companion to American Literature | 1995 | 700+ words | Copyright

Meaning of Truth, The, essays by William James, published in 1909 as a sequel to Pragmatism. In this reply to his critics, James reasserts and amplifies the basic principles of his concept of pragmatism: “The fundamental fact about our experience is that it is a process of change …”; “The true …is only the expedient in the way of our thinking, just as the right is only the expedient in the way of our behaving …”; “Truth happens to an idea. It becomes true, is made true to events”; “True ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify. False ideas are those that we cannot.” He discusses the theories of his fellow pragmatists, Schiller and Dewey, and points out certain weaknesses in their positions, but upholds his own concepts as essential to the doctrine of “radical empiricism” and contrary to untenable forms of idealism and absolutism.

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James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Meaning of Truth, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Meaning of Truth, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-MeaningofTruthThe.html

James D. Hart and and Phillip W. Leininger. "Meaning of Truth, The." The Oxford Companion to American Literature. 1995. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O123-MeaningofTruthThe.html

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