I want to go on to introduce Emerson’s Idealism, but before I do I need to get a few things straight, namely the distinction between Idealism, Materialism, Rationalism, Empiricism, Realism, Nominalism, Dualism and Monism. In …
The Holistic Vision of Ralph Waldo Emerson
I am sorry that I missed a post this week due to travel, but I am excited to share more from Ralph Waldo Emerson. As we understand more how Emerson’s thought developed we see the …
How do we know what we know?
I was very interested in the discussion that occurred around my post about belief and fact and I agree with Chuck that it is our interpretation of our experience that must be questioned. I have …
The Conscious Evolution of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Part 3
Why is the universe evolving? That is a question that must necessarily arise if we are to even entertain the possibility that there might be any form of consciousness directing the process of evolution. If …
Belief and Fact
The worst speculative Skeptic ever I knew, was a much better Man than the best superstitious Devotee & Bigot. —David Hume (Letter to Gilbert Elliot of Minto, March 10, 1751) Before I go on to …
The Conscious Evolution of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Part 2
Ralph Waldo Emerson had a spiritual vision explaining how the process of evolution was leading life inevitably in the direction of consciousness, and he did not separate human consciousness and activity from that process. Through …
The Conscious Evolution of Ralph Waldo Emerson: Part 1
The influence of Ralph Waldo Emerson on the future trajectory of American philosophy probably cannot be over-estimated. He held a metaphysical vision of an evolving universe. His idealism with its dualistic character would be largely …
Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Gifts of Nature
The idea of Nature is essential to Ralph Waldo Emerson. And throughout his lifetime he created a beautiful and poetic appreciation of the relationship between humankind and nature. As he states “our intercourse with heaven …
The Spiritual Teachings of Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the first half of the 19th century Ralph Waldo Emerson was part of a small group of forward thinking Unitarian ministers who were ushering in an exciting wave of “new thought” that they later …
Who was Ralph Waldo Emerson?
Who was Ralph Waldo Emerson? This blog started with Emerson, but quickly turned toward the Pragmatists. Now, however, I am turning back for a time. I want to explore with you this great man of …
My Initial Encounter with the Radical Inquiry of Charles Sanders Peirce (Part II)
What I was confronted with in myfirst encounter with Peirce was not the skepticism of Descartes that assumes everything is untrue and then builds from there. It was a more evolutionary skepticism that assumes that …
Consciousness is not a “stuff”
I pulled two quotes from Chuck to respond to. We may be the “conscious part of the universe” (possibly not the *only* conscious part – life on other planets?) but that doesn’t inexorably lead to …
We are the Conscious Part of the Universe
Now that I have got out some of my thoughts about the nature of truth I thought that I would respond directly to some of Chuck R’s earlier comment. (This is how this diversion got …
What Truth are we talking about?
I believe or hope that thoughtful modern people (like us) are caught to some degree or other in a battle of mind that we will soon outgrow. The battleground is the war over truth. The …
The Radical Inquiry of Charles Sanders Peirce
I first encountered the radical inquiry of Charles Sanders Peirce while reading his essay entitled, “Design and Chance,” a paper Peirce used as the basis for a lecture he gave on January 17, 1884 to …
The Experience Train of William James: Part 2
As James developed his philosophy of Radical Empiricism that philosophy rested on the idea that reality is made up of “pure experience.” It was a philosophy of subjectivity and with it he was able to …
The Experience Train of William James: Part 1
I seem to gain the best insight into the ideas of William James when I start by going back to some of his original work in psychology when he was formulating his unique ideas about …
The Emergence of John Dewey
As I think more about the way John Dewey was seeing the world I can only think in terms of emergence. Dewey seemed to see the world emerging constantly as an interconnected whole, not as …
Dynamic Engagement with the Universe
I had the pleasure to spend last weekend at a conference dedicated to American philosophy. It was the annual conference of SAAP (The Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy.) During the three days I …
From the Enlightenment to the Romantic Revolution
For a time the rationality of the Enlightenment seemed to hail the final triumph of human reason. Soon the laws that operated behind the universe would all be known and humakind would be able to …