Pragmatism and the Tragic Sense of Life Author(s): Sidney Hook Reviewed work(s): Source: Proceedings and Addresses

of the American Philosophical Association, Vol. 33 (1959 1960), pp. 5-26 Published by: American Philosophical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3129513 . Accessed: 05/11/2012 20:17
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and the Tragic Senseof Life* Pragmatism

SIDNEYHOOK in Honolulu,on a SundaywhentheEast-West Last summer PhiloConference was not in I made an session, interesting discovery. sophers' I wanderedinto a churchin which afterthe minister deliveredhis sermonthe audience was invitedto question him and make critical I enjoyedit immensely. comments. Had I remained in Hawaii I would have becomea member For althoughI recognize of thatcongregation. that thereare occasionswhen one should listenand not talk back, I have often suffered whencompelled to sitpatiently as waves of rhetoric or streams ofoutrageous or misinterpretation washedover misstatement me. My sympathy therefore goes out to any audiencewhichmustendurewithsilentcomposure of a controversial thediscussion theme. My is tempered thatall of you have themeans sympathy by therealization and thelong memories to make effective replies. In casting aboutfora theme, I consulted some of mydistinguished who me: "For told and our own, don't Heaven's sake predecessors us another of merely give paper.Say something generalsignificance"which I took to be an encouragement to talk about large and controversialmatters in an old-fashioned way. I. has philosophy to tell us about the human "What, if anything, about the fate of man and his works?" This questionin all condition, its changes I have heard repeatedly on threemajor continents. It is asked mostlyby philosophical students and teachersand laymen--by men of letters in searchof a center, or at leasta shelter, in a worldbecome dark and insecure becauseof the shadowsof totalitarianism and war. It is asked at interdisciplinary and by academicadconferences; ministrators in searchof projects to recommend to foundations, projects in wide use, "are not merelyof technical which,to use an expression concern." philosophical
*Presidential addressdeliveredbeforethe Fifty-Sixth Annual Meetingof the EasternDivisionof the American Association at Columbia UniPhilosophical December 1959. 28-30, versity,

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION

do philosophers Whatsaving their The question: message bring I have heardasked even by professional fellow-men? philosophers havea subject butno apparent that over thefact they agonizing subjectat theXIIthInternational ofPhilosophy matter. It washeard Congress theSoviet undertook to answer it. at Venice-andthere philosophers in and in own this our associavoices It is raised country by periodically It was thecentral theme tionas a protest against analytic philosophy. for Conference where six weeks oftheThirdEast-West Philosophers' tried to discover almost as older and many younger philosophers forty At one point we were had on socialpractice. whatbearing philosophy and oftheworld, we hadtheearofthestatesmen toldto imagine that affair on how to world's counsel the werechallenged to givethem put or reflected at Syracuse Plato'sexperience in order. No one recalled Aristotle uponthefactthatas faras we can judgetheonlyrequest he sendbackfresh whenhe had hisear,was that madeofAlexander, from Asia. Indeed, it is notlikely thatwithhis biological specimens of manof theGreeks to therest views abouttheessential superiority ento Alexander's Aristotle wouldhavegivenhis blessings kindthat he or that world culture to establish a if attempt lightened,premature, of the East-West to thepurpose wouldevenhavebeensympathetic Conference. Philosophers' I begin, a large oneandmay is certainly with which Thisquestion, with fordiscussion in conjunction an appropriate theme be deemed John year. centenary Dewey's
II.

witheach havebeendisputing For sometimenow philosophers notbe. Theywouldbe should or should other aboutwhatphilosophy eachwhathe thinks tome,doing itseems better philosophicoccupied, or to linguistic of either instead while worth analysis objecting ally not one of is The issue as case be. the may speculation, metaphysical of or is a science a even whether or definition body philosophy proper it is worth whether but rather of comparable objectivity, knowledge and fun in pursuing illumination is sufficient there whether doing, to do so. After to justify certain themes, contnuing byothers, ignored is a self-justifying science believes that all no onereally enterprise. only a hasdeveloped there andsince moot hasbecome thesubject Butsince of hasto say general ifanything, about wideconcern what, philosophy itarein order. about someremarks human concern, concerned I havefor ofyouareaware, As some myself many years
with"probof social and politicaland legal philosophy, withproblems 6

PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE lems of men" as authentic as any of thoserecognized who by thinkers would reform modernphilosophy. But I findmyself out increasingly of sympathy with thosewho have impugnedthe whole philosophical because of its failureto serve as a beacon to mankindin enterprise distress. When I ask myself and at odds with whyI feelunconfortable those who attackphilosophers because theyhave nothingof immedimomentto say,I findthatmy conception of philosophy ate, practical stated sometimes in words similar to differs in importheirs, although tantways.Put mostsuccinctly, I believe that is a although philosophy quest forwisdom,manyof thosewho cite thisphrase,too, speak and act as if theyalreadyhad it.The difference maybe onlyof nuanceand emphasisbut it has a profoundbearingon one's conceptionof the role of the philosopher in the cultureof his time.It is the appropriate difference between and beinga moralizer. The moralbeinga moralist izer maybe called "the shouting of whom Santayanasomemoralist," wheresaysthathe "no doubt has his place but not in philosophy." It is a difference, on the one hand,betweenanalyzingspecfiic and basic social problems and conflicts, and clarifying the issuesin disputewith all the tools at one's command--and, on the other,proclaiming solutionsand programs on thebasis of antecedent commitments whichone shareswithsomefaction of his fellow-men. It is thedifference between of human in terms of one's vocation problems approaching experience as a philosopher, whichis to do intellectual justiceto thevariedand coninterests or and one's vocationas a citizen flicting present discovered, limitedby specific dutieshe must fulfill. It is the difference between intellectual concern whichmay or may not lead to programs of action and commitment to programsof action which by theirverynature self-critical estops thought. In the courseof its history has been manythings. But philosophy itsdistinctive concern at all timeshas been thequestforwisdom.Otherwise therewould be no point in includingthinkers like Descartesor Leibnitzin thehistory ofphilosophy in addition to thehistory of science or mathematics. What distinguishes thephilosopher as a moralist from the philosopher as a mathematician, and logicianor naturalscientist, fromthe ordinary man as a philosopher, is his sustained reflective pursuit of wisdom.This means two things.The systematic studyof the to wisdom: and the analysisof the comknowledgewhichis relevant mitments we assumeand ruleout when knowledge is relatedto policy. All of us know thatwisdom and knowledgeare not the same thing but we sometimes mistakenly speakas if theyare opposed.A man may have knowledge of manythings and notbe wisebut a wise man cannot 7

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION of thethings he is wise about.He musthave knowledge be ignorant of of valuesin humanexperience; of thenatureand career the knowledge in whichtheydevelopand conflict; of thesituations natureand history of the mindsand emotions of the carriers of value; knowlknowledge or of the of actions taken edge consequences proposed.The wise man recites and appliesa ready-made moralprinciples is notone who merely and perplexities to the problems of value scheduleof moralobligations He is one who on the basis of what he alreadyknows,or beconflict. which define lieveshe knows,makes freshinquiryinto the situations and exact their costs. "Only the conventionaland the alternatives sure of rightand observes fanatical," Dewey, "are alwaysimmediately means that a in conduct." This must earn his title wrong philosopher tradition or philology to be wise not by rightof philosophical but by and hard the hard workof acquiringrelevant knowledge by thinking aboutit. tasksforthe philosopher. Here lie important To be wise he must in the actual subjectmatters himself immerse (not necessarily experiarise.To be wise about economic ences) out of which life'sproblems of law he he muststudyeconomics, to be wise about problems affairs somust studylaw, to be wise about politicshe must studyhistory, To be wise aboutwar and peace he must ciologyand otherdisciplines. and the theory and practice of communism technology studymilitary to disarmthe of movements its exploitation peace including strategic that to be wise freeworld. Indeed, these subjectsare so interrelated about any one of themhe muststudythemall. And I mightadd, in to be wise about educationit is not view of some current writing, of thegood lifeas ends of a good the ends to enoughmerely rebaptize if as without education,too, operationalapplicationto concretehishad toricalsituations, bearingon the great, they any but a peripheral social the psymust One of education. current history, study problems of to methods and of the techniques pedagogy achieve chology learning, the ends of the good life is not educationalwisdom.To enumerate whichcan serveas an introon a Nor is enough. primer logicalanalysis a of to the duction study any subject, primerto a philosophyof education. because of All of these problemsare of tremendous complexity because variables the numberof independent theyrarely theycontain, must and because the community experiment, permitof controlled before the act upon themin desperate sometimes analysisis urgency even as This shouldmake forhumility among philosophers complete. the methodological sophistitheybringto the studyof theseproblems 8

PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE cation,the artsand skillsof analysiswhich are the hallmarksof their of men." It is phiThis is what I mean by "the problems profession. as a a not for but as of understanding salvation losophy quest pursuit of greatcultural issuesand theirpossibleupshot.It does not start from a complete stockof philosophical wisdomwhichit dispenses to others withhortatory ferver but with an initialsense of concernto meetthe of the challenge great unresolvedproblemsof our time, offering of these whichwill win the respect of the specialist analysis problems and yet command the attention of everyman, to preserve how e.g. and achieve and vocafreedom, peace adequate production meaningful tions for all, design patterns of creativeleisure,effect if desegration establish a welfare of enterstateand a spirit coercion, possiblewithout nationalsecurity and theright to dissent. It is philosophy prise, preserve as normative social inquiry.And it is not social reform. How could be identified withsocial reform in view of the existence of philosophy fromAristotle to Santayanawhose judgmanyesteemed philosophers ments of wisdom were conservative, hostileto social reform?Such identification would be comparable to defining a physicist as one who was committed to a specific in physics. hypothesis At thispointmy innerear sensesunspokenmurmurs of surprise. someof you mustbe saying, "thisconstitutes a repudiation of "Surely," of philosophy, does not JohnDewey's conception for,after all, Dewey call upon philosophers as philosophers to do precisely what is being to urged theyshouldnot do? Does not Dewey call upon philosophers answer is: "Not as I understand play theroleof social reformers?" My him and notas he is to be understood in thelightof all he has written." Here is not the place to providethe documentation. I content myselfmerely withsayingthatDewey has a verycomplexconception of is indeed concerned with what I call philosophy. Philosophy primarily normative of socialinquiry. But itsfunction is also to provide problems ideas in science-naturaland social. And a third leading,speculative function is to weave together certain families of ideas intoa philosophical synthesis. "There is a kind of music of ideas," he says, "which to the mind of appeals, apart from any question of verification, thinkers!" Nor is this all. The philosopher must bringsome perspectiveor visionto bear upon theworldwhichis related to issuesof value and hencemakes the analysisof normative of social inquiry problems more sensitive. declaresDewey, "are different "Philosophies," ways of life. " construing ... then,than There is more, social inquiry problemsof normative whichfallswithinthe province of the philosopher's concern. There is 9

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION in which theyare seen which is metathe illuminating perspective "If be criticism," Dewey asks in Experienceand physics. philosophy to metaNature, "what is to be said of the relationof philosophy a is that is of His answer briefly metaphysics description physics?" thosegrossfeatures of the worldwhichconstitute the backdropof the theatre of human activity againstwhichmen play out theirlives.The howeverindirectly, conductof life and the analysisof its problems, will reflect what we believeto be the genericfeatures of human exin the world. In this as related to the human sense, ultimately perience of human life,but not to ontology, scene and the adventure meta"a of the of criticism is base physics establishing groundmap province linesto be employed in moreintricate triangulations." me finally This brings to my themeof the tragicsenseof lifeas a feature of human experience which providesan illuminating perspective upon the analysisof man's problems.The juxapositionof the and "thetragicsenseof life"may appearbeexpressions "pragmatism" of as a narrowtheory to thosewho understand wildering pragmatism lament that meaningand "the tragicsense of life" as the hysterical themesong of Unamuno'sbook of thattitle. man is not immortal-the like To speak of pragmatism and the tragicsenseof lifeis somewhat speakingof "The Buddhism of JohnDewey" or "The Dewey Nobody Knows." I am not aware thatDewey everused thephrase"the tragicsense of life"but I know thatgrowingup in the shadow of the Civil War, he feltwhat I shall describe by it and thatit is impliedin his account of moral experience. At any rate nothingof momentdepends upon the view is actually whether Dewey's or Hegel's or William James'or in all of whomit can be found.I taketheresponsiNicolai Hartmann's which It is a perspective of theinterpretation and its application. bility of normaview thatproblems seemsto me to illuminethe pragmatic tive social inquiry-moralsin the broad sense-are the primary-not and that reason or scientific exclusive-subjectmatterof philosophy, them. to resolve can and used should be intelligence understand merelysensitivity By the tragicsense of life I do not in the world althoughall tragic to the presenceof evil or suffering to some degreeinvolveone or the other.And since I have situations of the evils mentioned Buddha I should like to say thatthe presence his Kingdom in orderto in the worldwhichled Buddha to surrender seek salvationfor himselfand mankind are not to me the realities to the tragicsense of life. There were threethingsin fundamental reflection Buddha's experience, upon whichled him to a renunciation 10

PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE of his princely lot and a quest forliberation fromdesireand incarnate and death. One can verywell understand old existence-sickness, age in in he lived the world which and for thereafter manycenturies why untilour own,thesephenomena loomed so largein the over-populated and poverty-stricken areasof Asia. Nonetheless if we are to distinguish betweenthe sense of the pitiful and the sense of the tragic-sickness, old age and even many formsof death,despitetheirnumbingeffect are notnecessarily to be classified as tragic. upon humansensibility, the of horizons First,given rapidlyexpanding knowledgein our there is in the of nature thingswhich requiresthat the age, nothing sick, any more than the poor, must always be with us. If scientific medicinedevelopsat the same pace in the nextfew hundredyearsas it has in the last century, it is not shallowoptimism to anticipate that the mostseriousforms of sicknesswill disappearand not be replaced by others.Even where sicknessis presentit may be the occasion of tragedy but by itselfis not an illustration of it. In relationto the forcesof natureman's lot may appear pitiful. The tragicis a moral phenomenon. What is trueof sicknessis trueof old age. The aged arouse our and fragility-andthe mulcompassionbecause of their feebleness of their aches and When these are absent-and this, tiplicity pains. medicine-thereis a chanceforserenity, too, is a concernof scientific wisdom and beautyof spiritto manifest themselves. There is sometimesa grandeur and stateliness about an old treewhichaged persons do not possessbecause the processes of physicaldegeneration, and the of the vital make man There consequentweakening powers, pitiful. is no tragedy in growingold biologically but onlysorrow;the element of the tragicentersin the defeatof plans or hopes,in the realization that in much griefthereis not much wisdom,and that we cannot countmerely our stupidities upon thepassageof timealone to diminish and cruelties. But what of death-Buddha's thirdappallingdiscovery-preoccupationwithwhichhas becomeso fashionable todayamong some Eurothattheirphilosophy seemsto be more pean existentialist philosophers a meditation upon death than upon life? Is not death the ultimate sourceof whatever is tragicin life? I cannotbringmyself to thinkso. Nor can I convince thatitsnatureand significance in lifewaited myself to be discoveredby Kierkegaardand Heidegger and their modern It is the reflective attitude towardsdeath not the popularattitude or theone displayed by thosein its last agonies,whichthrows lighton 11

disciples.

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION in facing itsnatureand place in life.The attitude exhibited by Socrates it seems wiserthan thatexpressed of the the contemnors rational by life who not contentwith talkingabout what theyfind when they look into themselves inflateit into a universaltraitof the human writes:"If a So who is quoted by existentialist writers, psyche. Tolstoy man has learnedto think, no matter what he may thinkabout,he is of his own death.All philosophers are like that.And alwaysthinking what truth can therebe, if thereis death?" Logically,of course,this of Sartre makesno more sensethanthe even moreextreme statement that"ifwe mustdie thenour lifehas no meaning," whichto thosewho solve some problemsin life and therefore findsome meaning,might All be takenas a premise in a new short proofof human immortality. a and thisit seemsto me expresses little morethana fearof death cravIt is a commonplace however,that observation, ing for immortality. most human beings who desireimmortality desirenot unendinglife but unending youthor otherdesirable qualitieswhich lifemakes postheGods sible.The fableof Junoand herloverin whichJunopetitions to take back the giftof eternallifetheyhad conferred upon a mortal indicatesthat the Greeks knew that a life withoutend could be a dubious blessing.In this respectthe Hellenes were wiser than the Hebrews whose God drivesAdam fromParadise afterhe had eaten him fromeatingof the of thetreeof knowledge to prevent of thefruit me as one of of the treeof eternallife:Agonyoverdeathstrikes fruit timeslifeof our philosophic theunloveliest features of theintellectual itself as a conceives which and certainly of unworthy any philosophy are who those me to never clear for It has been wisdom. why quest nauseatedby life,not by thisor thatkind of lifebut any kind of life, of death. shouldbe so fearful Wisdom is knowledgeof the uses of life and death.The uses of of vision and life are to be found in the consummatory experiences creative and activity. art, friendship delight,of love, understanding, to powers worldof finite That is whyin a contingent men,vulnerable of robs them of the possibility theycannotcontrolwhich sometimes death has its uses, too. For it gives us consummations, any justifying To anyoneaware lastsforever. someassurance thatno evil or suffering which men have endured, and injustices of infamies of the multitude of thesecruelmindsof the victims of the brokenbodies and tortured of pain in whichmillionslifeon matdimensions ties,of themultiple deathmustsometimes in darkness, tress gravesor withmindsshrouded It washes affliction. inconsolable an not release a beneficent as appear the earthclean of what cannotbe cleansedin any otherway. Not all 12

PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE the brightpromisesof a future freeof thesestainsof horrorcan redeem by one iota the lot of thosewho will not live to see the dawn of thenew day. It is noblerto existand struggle in a world in whichthereis ala vital to live or die. The fearof death,the desireto surways option vive at any cost or pricein human degradation, has been the greatest of and "There are times," ally tyranny, saysWoodbridge, present. past "when a man oughtto be moreafraidof livingthandying."And we in which because of the conditions of may add, thereare situations the survival, worstthingwe can know of anyoneis thathe has survived. We have known such times and situations. They may come again. Even in a world in which all injustices, crueltiesand physical thepossibility of withdrawing fromit makes anguishhave disappeared, the worldinsofar forth a better and a freer world.So long as we retain of our faculties, our decisionto remainin theworldindicates possession a participating on our part for those eventswithinit responsibility whichour continuance If humanbeingswereunableto die they affects. would to thatextent be unfree. Man sharesa conatussui esse persevare with everything else in the world or at least with all othersentient beings.But just becausehe can on rational groundsgive up his being, choose not to be, he differentiates himselfmost strikingly fromhis fellowcreatures in nature.I concludetherefore thatdeath as such is nota tragic and thatitspresence does not make theworld phenomenon and our experience withinit tragic.It would be truerto call tragica worldin whichmen wantedto die but couldn't. What, then,do I mean by the tragicsense of life and what is its relevanceto pragmatism? I mean by the tragicsense a verysimple which is rooted in the and thing verynatureof the moralexperience the phenomenon of moral choice.Everygenuineexperience of moral doubt and perplexity in which we ask: "What should I do?" takes in a situation wheregood conflicts withgood. If we alreadyknow place what is evil the moral inquiryis over,or it neverreallybegins."The worse or evil,"says Dewey, "is the rejected good" but untilwe reject is one in whichapparent it, the situation good opposesapparent good. "All the seriousperplexities of lifecome back to the genuinedifficulty of forming a judgmentas to the values of a situation: theycome back to a conflict of goods."No matter how we resolvethe opposition some some interest, whose immediatecravingfor good will be sacrificed, satisfaction as its fellows, may be everywhit as intenseand authentic will be modified, frustrated or even suppressed. Where the goods in13

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION low order,like decisionsabout what to eat, volvedare of a relatively where to live, where to go, the choice is unimportant exceptto the are smalldeaths.At as there mindof a child.There are smalltragedies to oneselfor of values mustbecomemomentous any level the conflict to conveyadequatelythetragicquality.Where the choiceis beothers for the and consequential tweengoods thatare complexin structure more dilemma of the moral the future, tragicquality clearly. emerges the And when it involvesbasic choicesof love, friendship, vocations, in as of self the nature becomes The expressed very quality poignant. dethese altered extent some is to and character habits, by dispositions seen too late," all of us "Hell is truth cisions.If, as Hobbes observes, our moral in smug retrospect how justified mustlive in it. No matter to see the will fail seemto have been,onlytheunimaginative decisions to become what we are. Grantthat possibleselveswe have sacrificed all regrets are vain,thatany otherchoicewould have been equally or the selveswe mighthave been are eloquentwitnesses moreregretted, of values we failedto enjoy.If we have playedit safe and made our of a life of adexistence secure,the fascinating experience apparently of a good can neverbe ours,and every and experience venture thought William a It is a be missed will spirit poor by pang. accompanied fight of the not the sense reminds us who does Crillon, tardy chagrin James the with IV when the battleis overis greeted who arriving by Henry at Arques,and you braveCrillon!We fought words: "Hang yourself, were not there!"On the otherhand,if we have scornedto put down to give to ourselvesby refusing our roots,hugged our liberty tightly for lost or crusaders to become causes, we martyrs hostages fortune, and the of sustained the warmth fromourselves have thrust affection, bruised the heal best whichcan spirit. comforting regularities not only betweenthe good and the good but There is a conflict betweenthegood and the rightwherethe good is a generictermfor The and the rightforall the obligations. all the values in a situation to each otherin ordinary conceptsof good and rightare irreducible a certain we mustfulfill use. We are oftenconvinced dutyeven when to the same degreethatthe actionor the we are far fromconvinced will achievethegreatest rule it exemplifies good. The "good" is related "theright"to thefulfillment of an interest: satisfaction to thereflective There is no moral of a bindingdemand or rule of the community. see thatit also leads to can we the in when thing right doing problem to our conforms for the or when thegreatest good greatest striving good arisewhen in the But theacuteethicalproblems senseof whatis right. as e.g., whichappearnot to be right, of thegood we do things pursuit 14

PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE whenin orderto avoid thedangers of war a nationrepudiates itstreaty non-combatants a or when in to are order win war obligations punished who are in no way responsible fortheactionsof others. They also arise when in doing what is rightour actionsresultin evil consequences, as e.g.,when a dangerous setfreeon a legal technicality, kills criminal, or when to to the claims the surrender of refusal an again unjust in results wholesale have been the aggressor slaughter. Many attempts made to escape the antinomiesbetweenthe rightand the good by thegood as theobjectof right or theright as themeans defining merely to thegood. All have failed.To act upon the rightno matter what its forhuman weal or woe seemsinhuman, at timesinsane. consequences The thirst forrighteousness has too often been an angrythirst satisfied if at all by long draughts of blood. On the otherhand,the attempt to do good by any means no matterhow unjust, is subhuman and usuallyirrational. As comparedto traditional ethicaldoctrines, ideal utilitarianism reachesfarthest in our quest foran adequate ethicsbut in the end it, And it was thepragmatist and pluralist, William too,mustbe rejected. James,long beforePritchardand Ross, who indicatedwhy in the famous question he asked: "If the hypothesis us of a were offered world in which Messrs.Fourier'sand Bellamy'sand Morris'Utopia shouldall be outdone, and millions be keptpermanently happyon the one simple conditionthat a certainlost soul on the far offedge of shouldlead a lifeof lonelytorture, what excepta specifical and things sort of emotion can it be which would immedimake us independent when ately feel . . . how hideous a thing would be its enjoyment as the fruit of The is such a bargain?" situation deliberately accepted unaltered if we recognizethatthereare othergoods besideshappiness and thatjusticeis itself a good, becausein thatcase the conflict breaks out again betweengood and good. In thisconnection I would venture the statement thatit is the failureto see the radical pluralismin the natureof the goods which are reckonedin the consequencesof an actionwhichaccounts bothforMoore'sview thatit is self-evident that it can neverbe right to approvean actionthatwould make knowingly the worldas a wholeworsethansome alternative actionand forKant's view thatthereare some dutiesthatit would always be rightto pereven if the consequences of the actionresulted in a worseworld form, or in no world at all. No specific rule can be laid down as absolutely bindingin advance eitherway. Nothingcan take the place of intellior thelesserevil in each situation can be bestdefined gence; thebetter as the objectof reflective choice.Even thedecisionin the stockillustra15

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION tionof thetext-books whether to executean innocent man or turnhim overto be tortured in orderto save the community fromdestructionwould depend upon a complexof circumstances. It is perfectly conceivablethatan unjustact will sometimes the produce greater good or thelesser evil.It is sometimes to burn house to save a down a necessary when to human the village. Although beings logic seems applied in those few are of Kant to take the damnable, position prepared in moral are that not uncommon history, agonizing predicaments the history of oppressed minority especially peoples,in whichthe survivalof thegroupcan be purchased onlyat thepriceof thepain,degradationand deathof the innocent. No matter how we choose,we must or justice. either theideal ofthegreater betray good or theideal of right In thislies theagonyof thechoice. to escape the guilt of thatchoice.I Many have been the attempts citeone fromthe past. During the Middle Ages, Maimonideswriting on the Laws of the Torah to guide his people discusseswhat a comis to do whenit is besetbyenemieswho demandthelifeof one munity man with the threatto kill all of he be not turnedover to them. to turnover any man even Maimonidesteachesthattheyare to refuse if enemies call out thename ifall mustdie in consequence, their except on the ground I defended of a specific had heard this teaching person. thatif the community itself had to make the decisionwho was to die, man's death upon itself, it would be takingthe guilt of an innocent whichis impermissable. But if theenemynamesthe man,thenhe can be turnedover because the guilt and sin fall now on theirheads. By thatthe tragicchoice could be this miserable evasionit was thought avoided. But it turnsout that Maimonideshas been misread.What Maimonidesreallytaughtis thatonlyif the name of the personwho forhis has been called out is of one alreadyunderthe death sentence man. an innocent But never crimes shouldhe be surrendered. "Never," theJewswould have whether is a long time.It is problematic however, if they had alwaysabidedby Maimonides'injunction. survived If anything, human beings are more readilyinclinedto sacrifice in revoluthe rightto the good than the good to the rightespecially too long whichhave developedbecauseof grievances situations tionary of Comunmet.It can easilybe shownthatit was Lenin's conception in actionas consisting the right defined ethicswhichimplicitly munist the in would that victory bring anything anything-literally doing ofa wholegeneration thetransformation classstruggle-which explains whether of idealists intohangmen.In factthe healthof the revolution theholocaust or Castroneverreally of Robespierre in thetimes requires 16

PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE of victims offered includingour own has up to it. But no revolution everbeen achievedwithout someone. to However the conflict injustice betweenthe principles of rightand the values of good be theoretically in everyconcrete situationit leads to some abridgement of resolved, or some diminuation of value. principle The mostdramatic of all moralconflicts is not betweengood and or between and but between This in good, good right, rightand right. its starkest formis the themeof Sophocleantragedy but the primary locus of the tragicsituation is not in a play but in life,in law, and in Innocencein personalmatters in overlooking consists the conhistory. flictof moral duties and obligations. Innocencein politicalmatters, the characteristic of ritualistic in failingto see the consists liberalism, conflicts of rights in our Bill of Rightsand thenecessity of theirintelliIn our own country we have witnessedagain and gent adjustment. of rights in the conrevealedin dividedloyalties, again the antinomy flict betweenallegianceto the laws of the stateand allegianceto what is called divinelaw or naturallaw or the dictates of conscience. On the international scene it is expressedin the conflict of incompatible nationalclaims,each withsome measureof justification, as in the IsraeliArab impasse. One of thenoteworthy features of moralintuitionism as illustrated in the doctrines of Ross is thisrecognition thatprimafacie dutiesconflict and thatevery moralact exhibits at thesame timecharimportant acteristics whichtendto make it bothprimafacieright and primafacie so that we claim about these wrong although may certainty primafacie moraljudgment or actionis at bestonlyprobable duties, any particular or contingent. As Ross says,"There is therefore much truthin the of the act as a fortunate act."From thistheconclusion description right to be drawn,it seems to me ,is thatthe most important prima facie moral decisionis thatof consciendutyof all in a situation requiring or reflective assessment of all the relevantfactors tiousness, involved, and thesearching of our own hearts to determine whatwe exploration we really wishto do whatis right in a situation want,whether sincerely or to get our own scheming way come whatmay.As muchif not more evil results fromconfusion of our purposesand ignorance of our motives than fromruthlessand clear-eyed resolveto ignore everyone's interests but one's own. This emphasison the importance of reflective of thesituation whichbearon therightness of inquiryintothefeatures an actionseemsto me to be more important thanRoss' conception or of the intuitive of our primafacie duties. interpretation apprehension It is easierto doubtthatwe have thisfaculty of infallible intuition than 17

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION our conflicts and mediate has thepowerto discover thatour intelligence them. between in the factthat many of the Ironyis compoundedwith tragedy our ancestors who in the process owe to we we rights presently enjoy In some regions of their others of winning themforus deprived rights. of theworldthe verygroundon whichpeople standwas expropriated Yet as a rule it by forceand fraud fromothersby theirancestors. would be a new injusticeto seek to redressthe originalinjusticeby who hold presenttitle to them. deprivingthose of theirpossessions is an demand for country againstan aggressor reparations Everyjust who infants were of citizens as its on unjustdemand the descendants is is That forthe deeds of aggression. not responsible why history the in whichsome legitimate moralconflicts arenaof theprofoundest right on the altarsof the God of War. sometimes has alwaysbeen sacrificed, which the Buddhistethicsof purity and especially The Christian and avoid guilt by refusalto violate this conflict seeks to transcend from can onlydo so by withdrawing in such situations, anyone'sright This maysucceedin God's eyesbut theplane of theethicalaltogether. for not in man's. The Buddhistsaintor any otherwho out of respect or to kill,even everto use force, to lifeof man or beastrefuses theright as it sometimes when thisis the onlymethod, is, thatwill save multifor the and death, makes himselfresponsible tudes from suffering of comout to be he claims so because the more all acting evil, greater more than as him we whether cannot avoid He regard guilt passion. decision. manorlessthanman.No morethanwe doesheescapethetragic of life. There are threegenericapproachesto the tragicconflicts The of love. is that The second of that is The first history. approach mediation of for in thirdis that of creativeintelligence quest ways whichI call herethe pragmatic. because is besttypified The approachof history by Hegel precisely constitute which events to put a glossof reasonovertheterrible he tries so much of the historical process.Its upshotis woefullyinept to its cause wins and howeverit not only thatwhatever intent. It suggests but thattheloseris wins,is morejustthanthecause whichis defeated, it calls intoquestheweaker.Further, themorewickedand notmerely starts. fromwhichit so perceptively conflict tiontheveryfactof tragic situation intothenatureof thetragic No one has seenmoreprofoundly than Hegel and its starkclash of equally legitimate rights.But his ist das solution,expressedin Schiller'sdictum Die Weltgeschichte a of the as history it, philosophy makes Weltgericht, Hegel develops man console to it For It attempts tragedy. vulgarizes theodicy. thereby 18

PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE with a dialectical proofthathis agony and defeatare not reallyevils but necessary elements in the goodnessof the whole. The positionis No of God essentially religionwhichconceives religious. monotheistic as bothomnipotent and benevolent, no metaphysics whichasserts that and good has any room for genuine the world is rational,necessary tragedy. of loveis incomplete and ambiguous. The approach It is incomplete but is exbecause if love is more than a feelingof diffused sympathy himself action love or in no man can with everyone identify pressed has as as unity love everyinterest. Empirically produced muchdisunity in theworld--not is often born Injustice onlyin Troy but in Jerusalem. of love, not only of self-love but of love of some ratherthan others. Love is not only incomplete but ambiguous.There are variouskinds of love and the actionsto which theylead may be incompatible. An orderof distinction is required.A man's love for his familymustbe his love of mankindnot. He cannotlove both in the discriminatory: same way withoutdenyingone or the other.The quality of love is alteredwith the range of its generalization. In one sense love always shows a bias which reinforces in anotherit some conflicting interest; all values its without gives conflicting any specific blessing indicating mode of actionby whichconflict can be mediated. Love may enable a personto live with the burden of guilt which he assumeswhen he sacrifices one right to another. But it is no guide to social conflict as the last two thousandyears have shown. Because the Lord loves man followslogically about the equalityof man before the equally nothing Law. "The Agape qualityof love,"saysTillich,"sees man as God sees him."But whatman can tellus how God seesman? "Agape,"continues and through love itself." Karl Tillich, "loves in everybody everybody Barthspeaks more simplyand intelligibly, and with a basic brutality whichis theclue to his crudeneutralism, whenhe claimsthatsuchlove has no bearingwhatever for the organization of any human society. It, too,triesto Finallythereis the methodof creative intelligence. make it possibleformen to live with the tragicconflict of goods and and duties, to mediatenotby arbitrary fiatbut through informed rights and responsible decision. Whoeveruses thismethodmustfindhis way claims.He must therefore among all the conflicting give each one of them and the interests it represents or voice. Every claimant tongue therefore has a right to be heard.The hope is thatas much as possible of each claim may be incorporated in some inclusive or sharedinterest whichis acceptedbecausethe alternatives are less satisfactory. To this end we investigate relevant feature the conditions under about it, every 19

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION its proximate causes and consequences, the costsof whichit emerged, and their costs. available alternatives the it, Everymediation gratifying The quest forthe unique good of the situation, entailssome sacrifice. forwhatis to be done hereand now, may pointto what is better than is what it to also a lesser else available but evil. It is a points anything or in moderating lesserevil whether found in a compromise the deto live peacefully withone's differmand of a just claim or in learning ences on the same general principlewhich tells us that a divorceis In everycase the rules, forall parties concerned than a murder. better thewisdom, thelessonsof thepast are to be appliedbut theyhave prebecause theymay be challengedby new not final,validity sumptive, "The pragmatic importof the logic of individualized presumptions. of theory the attention from situations," says Dewey, "is to transfer to the problemof developing withgeneralconceptions pre-occupation of inquiry," and applyingthem.It is a logic which effective methods which emerge does not preachsolutionsbut exploresthe suggestions is to inquire, Its categorical fromthe analysesof problems. imperative devicesand invencrisis thecreative to seekin every to reasontogether, bearable. but tragedy and richer tionsthatwill notonlymakelifefuller the same point as Dewey in the William Jamesmakes essentially and betweenideals "victory langauge of ideals. Since in the struggles for is that to be philosophically mustbe,thevictory defeat there prayed of the moreinclusive side--ofthe side whicheven in the hour of triumph will to some degreedo justiceto the ideals in which the vanlay. . . ." But prayeris not enough. He goes on: quished interests "Inventsome mannerof realizingyour own ideals which will also the alien demands-thatand thatonlyis the pathof peace." To satisfy will to peace in the whichwe mustadd, providedthereis a reciprocal or bothmustbe demands or the alien own And eventhen, matter. your curtailed. to As you may have gathered by thistime,I have been concerned can not show thatthispragmatic only approachto the moralproblem minor of troubles, of tragicconflicts, be squared withthe recognition and grave,whichdog thelifeof man in a precarious world,but thatit fromthis recognition. may be Intelligence gets its chiefjustification but themorallifeby of things whenit deals withthecontrol optimistic which has often its verynatureforbidsthe levityand superficiality critics. to thepragmatic been attributed approachby its unimaginative to tragedy IndeedI makebold to claimthatthepragmatic approach than any otherapproachbecauseit even moreheroic, is more serious, or take easywaysout at to thebare factof tragedy doesn'tresignitself 20

PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE the priceof truth. Where death does not resultfromthe tragicsituathere are forcontinued tion, alwaysconsequences livingwhichit takes without to It does not conceiveof tragedy yielding despair. responsibly as a pre-ordained but as one in which the doom, plot to some extent so that we become the creators of our own tragic depends upon us, We cannot then off the altogether tragicoutcomeupon history. palm in thesame way as we can witha naturaldisaster. the universe Contrast thisattitude towardstragedy withthe Hegelian fetishism of history whichin the end is but the rationalization of cruelty. Contrastit with the Judaic-Christian which offers at the price conception of truth, the hope thatthe felicities of salvationwill both explainand humansuffering. Contrast it withtheattitude of Unamuno recompense whose hungerforimmortality is so intense thathe sees in intelligence or reasonthechief bothin timeand eternity. For him the enemyof life, of lifeis theconflict of value and value no matter what joy and delight the cost."The veryessenceof tragedy," he tells us, "is the combatof lifewithreason."And sincetheInquisitor is concerned withtheeternal life of his victim'ssoul, the potential victimmust defendthe Inquisitor'splace in society and regardhim as far superior to the merchant who merely ministers to his needs."There is much morehumanity in theInquisitor," he says.Crazed by thisthirst fortheinfinite, Unamuno war as the best means of spreading love and knowledge.He glorifies illustrates the dialectic of totalabsurdity and capricein thought which oftenpreparesthe way for atrocity in life. Here is no quest for the forthe extension of reasonable controls in life and society, better, for action. in peace To be sure,Unamuno is so horrified in which by thefluxof things all thingsare ultimately liquefiedthat he expresses pityfor the very heavens"whose lightwill some day be quenched.But this "star-strewn cosmic sentimentality is disdainfulof the vexatious,unheroicdaily tasksof mediating even of mitigating the consequences of differences, irreconciliable of devising ways to limit human suffering conflicts, whoseubiquitous is theallegedcause of spiritual presence agony. No two thinkers seem so far removedfromeach otheras Miguel de Unamuno and BertrandRussell-and as philosophers they are indeedrelated as a foothill to a Himalayanpeak. But thismakesall the more significant the similarity of theirattitudetowardsthe arts of social control whichrequirethe extension of man's powerovernature. For Russell,any philosophy, and particularly one like Dewey's,which ideas as implicit and behavior, interprets and knowlguidesto activity edge as dependentupon experimental reconstructive in the activity 21

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION situation whichprovokes "thedangerof whatmay be called it,exhibits cosmicimpiety." It is an arrogant whose insolence power-philosophy towardsthe universe when it stresses social is hardly less objectionable than individual power power. It is fortunate thatRussell'sattitude-inwhichhe is notalwaysconsistent-towards scientific power and controlof our naturalenvironment has not prevailed, otherwise the whole of moderncivilization modern medicine never have developed.The charge would including of megalomania of view againstany knowledge just becauseit is not a view is absurd. For the pure spectator pragmaticview accepts the means. dictum be that nature can Spinozistic changedonlyby nature's The problem is to discover or devisethesemeans.This cannotbe intellito Russell'sown done without gently According activity. experimental position, power itselfis neither good nor bad but only the uses and ends of power.But sincehe also tellsus thatthere is no suchthingas a in deteror irrational rational or reasonis helpless end,thatintelligence miningwhat we shoulddo withour power,one can argue withmuch betterwarrantthat it is his view, if acted upon, that increases"the view whichbelieves than the pragmatic dangerof vastsocial disaster" thatby changingnatureand society, man can to some extentchange ends. No humane in the light of rationally themselves determined more can read without moved by man's failures person history being to use the knowledgehe has had to removethe evils and sufferings to achievetoo greata control whichwereremedial thanby his attempt forthe or powerovernature. It was not sciencewhichwas responsible use of the atomicbomb.It was politics-a failureof politicsto undertime at any particular The pitifuldisparity stand the true situation. to inspire betweenwhat we know and what don't know is sufficient But it is only ambitious. in the mostintellectually a senseof humility a sensewhich in the mostvulgarizedsenseof the term"pragmatism," that the Russell helped to popularizeby flagrant misunderstandings, or which of regardsactivity experiadequacyof a theory knowledge, of fact, can be judged of knowledge mentas integral to theachievement byitsallegedsocialconsequences. in stating a position thanestablishing I am moreinterested tonight on life,it is an attempt the pragmatic it. As I understand perspective formen to live in a worldof inescapable to make it possible tragedy,of moral ideals,-without a tragedywhich flowsfrom the conflict defianceor make-believe. Accordingto this perspective lomentation, there willbe tragedy-tragedy evenin thebestofhumanworlds perhaps It focuses itsanalysis tears. notwithout butcertainly bloodshed without
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PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE on problems of normative socialinquiry in orderto reducethe costsof Its view of man is therefore not optimistic. Some melioristic, tragedy. man the immensities belittle him to look at philosophers by asking without:others belittle him by askinghim to look at the perversities and selfishness within.Pragmatismdenies nothingabout the world or men which one trulyfindsin thembut it sees in men something which is at once, to use the Sophocleanphrase,more wonderful and more terrible than anything else in the universe, the viz., power to make themselves and the world around thembetter or worse.In this of Russell's miliorism avoids the romantic way pragmatic pessimism freeman, shakinghis first in defianceof a malignantuniverse, and thegrandoise ofNiebuhr'sredeemed man withhis delusions optimism of a cosmicpurposewhich he knows is therebut knows in a way in whichneither he nor anyoneelse can possibly understand. To themeliorist therecognition of thegamutof tragicpossibilities is what feedshis desireto findsome methodof negotiating conflicts of value by intelligence rather thanwar,or bruteforce. But thisis not as simpleas it sounds.There is no substitute forintelligence. But intelligencemaynotbe enough.It maynotbe enoughbecauseoflimitations ofour knowledge, becauseof thelimited reachof our powersof control. It may not be enoughbecauseof the recalcitrance of will-not merely the recalcitrance of will to act upon goods alreadyknown and not in butbecauseof unwillingness to findout whatthemaximizing dispute, in the situation is. And we are seekingto settle conflicts good although of value by the use of intelligence ratherthan by force, is it not true that sometimes intelligence requiresthe use of force? Let us take thislast questionfirst. Faced by a momentous conflict of values in which some value mustgive way if the situation is to be the rationalapproachis to findsome encompassing value on resolved, the basis of some sharedinterest. as we have This, seen,involveswillThe grim fact,however, ingnessto negotiate-to negotiatehonestly. is that thereis sometimes no desire to reason,no wish to negotiate exceptas a holdingactionto accumulatestrategic power,nothingbut thereliance of one party or theotherupon bruteforce evenwhen other alternatives may exist.In such cases the moralonus restsclearlyupon thosewho invokeforce.Their victory no more establishes theirclaim to be rightthan a vandal's destruction of a scientists' instruments of of his assertions, evidencefor inquiryhas any bearingon the validity or againstwhich, couldhavebeengathered bytheinstrument destroyed. The intelligent use of forceto prevent or crushthe use of forcewhere a healthydemocratic and cusprocess,equitable laws and traditions 23

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION in a rationaland tomsof freedom make it possibleto ventdifferences is even if therefore on orderly way, groundsone prudential justifiable such action. This means that tolerance mayforego alwayshas limitsit cannottolerate intolerant. what is itself actively There is a tendency in modernphilosophical thoughtwhich,in too of for the role in human claims rejecting sweeping intelligence for a settles too little even when does wholesale it not embrace affairs, not do it Of a is and man know what skepticism. course, may right it. In neither assert as he not know what is true and may publicly just case is thisa groundformaintaining thatwe cannotknow whataction is more warranted is more justified than anotheror what assertion than another.The refusalto followa rationalmethod,to give good rational are different reasons is one thing:theclaimthatthere methods, modes of its own built-in different kinds of good reasonseach with To be sure, is something else again-and to me unintelligible. validity, of rational methodis notenough.Men musthave some the acceptance solid elementin common.Hume is on unquestionably non-rational that reason must always serve a human need, ground in asserting or passion.But his mistakeoutweighedhis insightwhen he interest or slaveof what could onlybe a servant method thatrational contended and passionscould not be changed it servedand thatneeds,interests into space if In our flights or transformed by the use of intelligence. with creatures othersentient we encounter capable of communicating will and mathematical their that more it is judgment logical us, likely becausewe can more ethicaljudgments, be thesame as oursthantheir minds. needs than of different of different readilyconceivecreatures At any ratetheworldwe live in is one in whichmen do not share and yetit is one in whichtheyhave sufall theirneeds and interests in commonto make possibletheirfurther needs and interests ficient so to speak,in itsinquiry. a purchase, and to giveintelligence extension, is one in whicheventhecommon ofall situations The mostdifficult whichare incomseemto lead to conclusions of inquiry use of methods There is is each other each justified. objectively although patiblewith how far no matter of ultimate disagreement alwaysan open possibility it can We conceive rational happening. and long we pursue inquiry. to livingwith our digerwe mustresignourselves In such situations But it is simplya nonor surrender. we mustfight ences.Otherwise can be giventhatthere no because that to maintain guarantee sequitur cannotbe will not be ultimate agreements penultimate disagreement, validlyreachedand justified.
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PRAGMATISM AND THE TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE of reasonor In anycase we cannotin advancedetermine thelimits know in human So we don't where it lies, as agairs. long intelligence it is sensibleto presson, at the same timedevisingthe means to curb itself. Above all, of the refusal to reasonwhen it manifests the effects the thechoiceof evils and encouraging we mustavoid oversimplifying will to dividends. that be unreasonable pay hope in which freedom We are movinginto anotherperiodof history on the altarsof survival. The once more is being readiedforsacrifice Munichmenof the spiritare at work again. The stakesare now for the entireworld.Our task as philosophers is not to heed partisan and excitedcalls for action,but ratherto thinkthroughthe problemsof two years freedomand survivalafresh.In a famouspronouncement Russell declaredthat if the Kremlin refusedto accept ago Bertrand reasonableproposalsof disarmament, the West should disarm uniof Communistdomination." laterally"even if it means the horrors he no believes there are many otherswho do. this, longer Although I know thatcommonsenseis at a discount in philosophy but in ethics it shouldnot be lightly A like this can disregarded. position obviously have onlyone effect, of thosewho theintransigeance viz.,to encourage wish to destroy the freeworld withoutwhich therecannotbe a free You cannot negotiatesuccessfully in adby proclaiming philosophy. if the otherside persists in being unreavance thatyou will capitulate are not limitedto surrender sonable.Our alternatives and extinction of freedom, one the one hand, and war and the danger of human on theother. extermination There are otheralternatives to be explored in their -all tragic costsbut notequallyextreme. The verywillingness, if necessary, in defenceof freedom to go down fighting may be the force for when an who makes a fetish greatest peace facing opponent of historical survival.On pragmaticgrounds,the willingness to act like Kant's fiatjustitia, on a position pereatmundusmay sometimesI repeat-sometimes-be the best way of preserving a just and free to be world--justas the best way of saving one's life is sometimes to lose it. The uneasypeace we currently prepared enjoy as a resultof is tragic.But it may turnout thatit is less so "the balance of terror" than any feasiblealternative today.If it endureslong enough and it becomesclear to the enemiesof freedom thattheycannotthemselves survive of war in themakwar,theymay acceptthe moralequivalents is alwaysto findmoralequivalents forthe ing.The pragmatic program of our expressionof natural inpulses which threatenthe structure values. 25

AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION I have perhaps thesenseof thetragic overstressed in humanlifein an effort for the distortions to compensate to which pragmatism has been subject.There is morein lifethan the senseof the tragic. There is laughterand joy and the sustaining disciplineof work. There are otherdimensions of experience besides the moral. There is art and scienceand religion. There are otheruses for intelligence besidesthe There is intellectualplay and resolution of human difficulties. adventure. But until men become Gods-which will never be-they as theygo in quest will live withthe senseof thetragicin theirhearts is of the and practice forwisdom.Pragmatism, as I interpret it, theory a and world the in freedom human by tragic precarious enlarging It maybe a lostcause. I do not know socialcontrol. artsof intelligent one. And it maynotbe lostif we can summonthe courage of a better our faithin freedom-andenjoy the blessto support and intelligence

luck. ingsofa little

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