F. C. S. Schiller and the Style of Pragmatic Humanism
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F. C. S. SCHILLER AND THE STYLE OF PRAGMATIC HUMANISM by Mark Joseph Porrovecchio BA, Carroll College, 1995 MAIS, Oregon State University, 1997 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2006 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Mark Joseph Porrovecchio It was defended on May 5, 2006 and approved by John Lyne, Professor, Communication Ronald J. Zboray, Associate Professor, Communication Paul Kameen, Associate Professor, English Dissertation Advisor: Peter D. Simonson, Assistant Professor, Communication ii Copyright © by Mark Joseph Porrovecchio 2006 iii F. C. S. SCHILLER AND THE STYLE OF PRAGMATIC HUMANISM Mark Joseph Porrovecchio, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2006 This dissertation is a rhetorical biography of Ferdinand Canning Scott Schiller (1864-1937), the foremost British proponent of pragmatism at the turn of the previous century. Beyond reconstructing the development and receptions of Schiller’s thoughts, this dissertation brings the resources of rhetorical criticism to bear and focuses, in particular, on his style and its significance both in his own lifetime and afterward. While spending most of his career in England, Schiller came in his time to be one of the most widely discussed figures in what is often considered a distinctly American philosophical movement. This rhetorical biography analyzes, in chronological order, the most substantial and often contested arguments that Schiller engaged in so as to promote, first, Jamesian pragmatism and, secondly, his own pragmatic humanism. These arguments were meant to defend the principles of pragmatism and pragmatic humanism against the dominant strains of Idealism then current in both British and American philosophy. But they were also supported by reference to a wide range of topics: psychical research, formal logic, science, religion, and eugenics. This dissertation examines how Schiller’s arguments exemplify the positive and negative aspects of the rhetorical category of style. More specifically, this rhetorical biography posits that Schiller’s use of the stylistic figure repetition—the reiteration of key claims so as to emphasize their importance and to engage the pathos of the audience—helps to explain why Schiller is now a largely forgotten instigator of pragmatism, conceived herein as both a philosophical concept and a historical movement. This dissertation also demonstrates how traditional methods of rhetorical criticism, often focusing on the set text or oration, can be profitably extended by way of archival materials, public documents, and a focus on the range of arguments offered over the expanse of a subject’s career. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE...............................................................................................................................IX 1.0 INTRODUCTION: THE DISSAPEARANCE OF A PRAGMATIST........................1 1.1 FORGOTTEN ORIGINS: SCHILLER AND THE NARRATIVE OF PRAGMATISM.................................................................................................2 1.2 THE RIGHT TO POSTULATE: SCHILLER’S VOLITIONAL PRAGMATISM............................................................................................... 12 1.3 A MATTER OF METHOD(S): EXTENDING RHETORICAL BIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................. 20 1.4 A LIFE IN THE DETAILS: THE OUTLINE OF THE DISSERTATION... 32 1.4.1 Evolution and the Spirit 1882-1897. .................................................... 32 1.4.2 The Psychology of Pragmatism 1898-1905.......................................... 34 1.4.3 The Mettle of Humanism 1906-1910. .................................................. 35 1.4.4 The Long Shadow 1911-1919............................................................... 37 1.4.5 The Risks of Doubt 1920-1926............................................................. 38 1.4.6 Out of the Light, Into the Cave 1927-1939.......................................... 40 1.4.7 Conclusion: The Pragmatism of Appearances.................................... 41 2.0 EVOLUTION AND THE SPIRIT 1882-1897 ............................................................ 44 2.1 THE GROOVES OF A BRITISH EDUCATION: SCHILLER’S EARLY YEARS............................................................................................................. 45 2.2 KEYS TO THE RIDDLE: SCHILLER’S FORMATIVE WRITINGS ........ 54 2.3 ‘IDEALISM WITH A DIFFERENCE’: SCHILLER’S RIDDLES OF THE SPHINX ........................................................................................................... 71 2.4 A TRIP ABROAD: SCHILLER’S “EDUCATION” AT CORNELL ........... 85 2.5 A TRIP, ABROAD: SCHILLER’S DEPARTURE FROM AMERICA ..... 105 v 3.0 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PRAGMATISM 1898-1905........................................... 115 3.1 ‘TO HOPE TILL HOPE CREATES’: THE BIRTH OF PRAGMATISM. 116 3.2 MYSTICISM AND MÜNSTERBERG: TESTING THE NEW ETHICAL PHILOSOPHY .............................................................................................. 123 3.3 TO CARE (NOT) A WIT: THE SATIRE AND SUBSTANCE OF SCHILLER’S EARLY PRAGMATISM ...................................................... 134 3.4 WHAT MORE CAN PRAGMATISM BE? THE ORIGINS OF SCHILLER’S HUMANISM ......................................................................... 159 3.5 ACTIONS AND THEIR CONSEQUENCES: SCHILLER’S PLACE WITHIN THE PRAGMATIST MILIEU ..................................................... 172 4.0 THE METTLE OF HUMANISM 1906-1910........................................................... 193 4.1 MEASURED STUDIES: PROTAGORAS AND THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF HUMANISM............................................................................. 194 4.2 ‘THE HEIGHT OF THE EMPRESS OF CHINA’: THE CRITICISMS OF PRAGMATISM AND HUMANISM ............................................................ 205 4.3 CONJURING UP PROTAGORAS, SETTING UPON BRADLEY: THE HISTORICAL RANGE OF HUMANISM................................................... 227 4.4 BRITTLE METTLE: THE PERSONAL TOLLS OF HUMANISM’S BATTLES ...................................................................................................... 249 5.0 THE LONG SHADOW 1911-1919........................................................................... 257 5.1 REVISED RIDDLES: RETOUCHING HUMANISM’S EARLY TEMPLATE .................................................................................................. 258 5.2 DESTRUCTIVE DEFENSES: HUMANISM’S CRITIQUE OF FORMAL LOGIC ........................................................................................................... 264 5.3 ADVANCE ON ALL FRONTS: EUGENICS, LOGIC, AND PSYCHICAL RESEARCH................................................................................................... 280 5.4 BATTLE LINES: CREATING NEW ENEMIES, REFUSING OLD FOES 295 5.5 UNCERTAIN FUTURE AND CLEARER METHODS: REFINING SCIENCE AMIDST A WORLD AT WAR .................................................. 305 6.0 THE RISKS OF DOUBT 1920-1926 ........................................................................ 326 vi 6.1 REPEATING WHAT IS TRUE: THE CANONS OF HUMANISM AND ‘PERSONALITY’ OF JAMES ..................................................................... 327 6.2 CLARIFICATIONS, CAVEATS, AND CONSEQUENCES: THE LIMITS OF SCHILLER’S PHILOSOPHY................................................................ 348 6.3 ALL TOO HUMAN: THE FLUCTUATING RELEVANCE OF HUMANISM.................................................................................................. 359 6.4 OF CERTAIN ENDS: BRADLEY, EUGENICS, AND THE DEPARTURE FROM ENGLAND........................................................................................ 375 7.0 OUT OF THE LIGHT, INTO THE CAVE 1927-1939............................................ 393 7.1 WANDERLUST: RECLAIMING JAMES .................................................. 394 7.2 ON WHAT GROUNDS: THE HISTORY AND APPLICATION OF HUMANISM.................................................................................................. 403 7.3 QUESTIONS OF LORDS AND LOGIC: SOCIAL CONTROLS AND SYSTEMATIC STATEMENTS ................................................................... 415 7.4 PHILOSOPHICAL JUDGMENTS: THE SOCIETAL AND THE SYMBOLIC................................................................................................... 430 7.5 PARSING OUT PRAGMATISM: HISTORY AND HUMANISM, PEIRCE AND JAMES.................................................................................................. 445 7.6 PERRY AND THRUST: FINAL COMMENTS .......................................... 467 7.7 DEPARTING SHOTS: SUMMARY AND APPRECIATION .................... 488 8.0 CONCLUSION: THE PRAGMATISM OF APPEARANCES ............................... 506 8.1 ALL THAT IT MUST BE: CLEARING THE WAY FOR AN AMERICAN SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY............................................................................... 508 8.2 ALL THAT IT ONCE WAS: THE STYLE OF PRAGMATIC HUMANISM 524 8.3 ALL THAT IT CAN BE: REPETITION AND RECONSTRUCTION IN PRAGMATIST HISTORY ........................................................................... 541 8.3.1 Why was Schiller so vigorously discussed in his time?..................... 541 8.3.2 Why is he now so obviously not discussed?....................................... 546 vii 8.3.3 How do the previous two questions interact; how might they relate to and enrich