"It seems to me," my friend writes, "that the pragmatic objection to
pragmatism lies in the fact that it might accentuate the narrowness
of narrow minds.
"Your call to the rejection of the namby-pamby and the wishy-washy
is of course inspiring. But although it is salutary and stimulating
to be told that one should be responsible for the immediate issues
and bearings of his words and thoughts, I decline to be deprived of
the pleasure and profit of dwelling also on remoter bearings and
issues, and it is the TENDENCY of pragmatism to refuse this
privilege.
"In short, it seems to me that the limitations, or rather the
dangers, of the pragmatic tendency, are analogous to those which
beset the unwary followers of the 'natural sciences.' Chemistry and
physics are eminently pragmatic and many of their devotees, smugly
content with the data that their weights and measures furnish, feel
an infinite pity and disdain for all students of philosophy and
meta-physics, whomsoever. And of course everything can be expressed-
-after a fashion, and 'theoretically'--in terms of chemistry and
physics, that is, EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE VITAL PRINCIPLE OF THE
WHOLE, and that, they say, there is no pragmatic use in trying to
express; it has no bearings--FOR THEM.
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