The Evolution of Pragmatism

Abstract

AbstractThe pragmatist theory of history, action, and sociality can be understood as the result of a specific interpretation of Darwin’s theory of evolution, which has nothing in common with teleological, reductionist, or social Darwinist evolutionary models. Thishistorical claimwill be developed in three steps. First, I will show why Darwin’s theory was so attractive to the classical pragmatists and how theirconception of historywas affected by their reading of Darwin. Second, I will illustrate how the pragmatist understanding ofindividual actionwas influenced by contemporary discussions in evolutionary theory, physiology, and psychology. Third, I will discuss pragmatism’s “cultural naturalism” (John Dewey), according to which a new, autonomous level ofsociocultural changeemerges as a result of the process of biological evolution. The reconstruction of pragmatist evolutionary thought not only aims to achieve a better historical understanding of pragmatism but also implies asystematic and theoretical claim. As will be argued in the last section of this paper, thetimeliness and continuing relevance of pragmatismis largely due to the fact that it took shape in a transdisciplinary context and remained an “empirically responsible” theory (Erkki Kilpinen). Currently, various innovative developments within psychology, the cognitive sciences, neurophysiology, and ethology are connected with the core insights of pragmatism, thereby supporting the argument that pragmatism is still evolving.