The Philosophic Soul of Reform: Herbert Croly's Ideal of Progressivism Patrick LaPierre A Thesis in The Department of History Presented in Partial Fuifilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada August 1997 copyright Patrick LaPierre, 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale m*m of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 Canada Canada Your h4 Votre ref&rsnu, Our hie Notre reUrence The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sel1 reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/filrn, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author' s ou autrement reproduits sans son pemission. autorisation. Abstract The Philosophic Soul of Reform: Herbert Croly's ldeal of Progressivism Patrick LaPierre American historians have found that within the passionate reforrn movements that inundated America from the 1890's to 191 7, there was a corresponding intellectual movement away from the rigid and abstract formal logic that had characterized nineteenth century thought. This social thought, stressing the limits of the rational and defining itself in opposition to metaphysics, a priori reasoning, and absolute truth, defined the ideology of the progressive era. Herbert Croly (1869-1930) is commonly referred to as one of the leading progressive minds. His book The Promise of American Life (1909) is consistently cited, by historians, as a representative expression of progressive thought. Using this source and a nurnber of his other writings, this thesis suggests that Herbert Croly's thought was, in fact, at variance with progressive currents. This thesis argues that Croly's idealist political philosophy was heavily influenced by lmrnanuel Kant's conception of individuai freedom and Josiah Royce's idea of community. Croly then, rejected the trend toward the relative and experiential nature of truth and ethics, the strictly empirical nature of social knowledge, and process being exalted over the ideal. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Stephen Scheinberg, whose perceptive commentary and patient direction greatly enhanced both the form and content of this thesis. Reading the initial drafts while on leave is gratefully acknowledged. I am also indebted to Dr. Fred Krantz and the members of his European historiography seminar, of whom I was one. In the unlikely confines of a small windowless rom, ernbedded in the sixth floor of the library building, I was taught unforgettable lessons in generosity and rigour. Thanks must also be extended to Dr. Red. Bode who introduced me to the rich histoty of the antebellum South, and who, as a rnember of my thesis cornmittee, suggested rnany signlficant improvements for the final draft after having read it on short notice. I must acknowledge the animated conversations I sustained with Paul D'amboise, a fellow student, who sagaciously refrained from asking when. Finally, I would like to thank my mother whose gentle exhortations to finish what at tirnes, seemed unending, provided a much needed and appreciated absolutisrn Josiah Royce's writings would have little to recommend it. These and the like expressions, proceeding out of the hearts of those that loved and were loved again, by the countenance, the tongue, the eyes, and a thouçand pleasing gestures, were so much fuel to melt our souk together, and out of many make but one. St. Augustine Table of Contents Introduction Chapter I - Early Life Chapter . l l - Politics as Moral Idea: "The Promise of American Life" Chapter III - Trogressive Democracy" and the Metaphysics of Progressivism Cha~terIV - The Improbable Triumvirate: Herbert Croly, Walter Weyl and Walter Lippmann Conclusion Bibliography Introduction It can safely be admitted that late nineteenth and early twentieth century America supported a critical and reformist spirit based on new modes of thought and a sençe of crisis caused, in large part, by rapid urbanization, industrialization and immigration. Intellectually, progressivism was set in relief from previous decades thanks to a number of ideas that established themselves in opposition to the formal and abstract logic that governed "outdatedn theological and metaphysical creeds. Pragmatism, "Reformed Darwinismn, instrumentalism, and an ethical relativism grounded in scientific (experimental) enquiry, are among these powerful forces that overturned the absolutes of the old "Victorian" intellectual order. This social thought, predicated on the process of scientific discovery, suggested that ideas ought to be tested empiricaliy in an effort to determine whether they were relevant to experience. It was this pragmatic approach to truth, defined by thinkers including John Dewey, Walter Lippmann, William James, and Charles Beard, among others, which increasingly defined the reformist approach intellectuals were taking towards the sweeping changes in social life caused by turn of the century upheaval. Herbert Croly's ideas no les than those of Dewey or Lippmann were effective tools of social and political criticism. His book The Promise of American -Life (1 909) is consistently cited by historians as an important and representative expression of progressive thought. While not in disagreement that an observable intellectual 'style* distinguished the progressive era, this thesis suggests that Herbert Croly's thought was most essentially not a part of it. Croly shared with other progressives the revulsion against America's cornmitment to the laissez-faire gospel, which was expressed in a spirited cal1 to consciously direct the natural order. However, Croly's own philosophical premises and system were profoundly different, and most often these differences articulated themselves in opposition to the intellectual values uf the progressives who were his coileagues and contemporaries. Croly's idealist philosophy, influenced by the American philosopher, Josiah Royce, and lmmanuei Kant, exhibited a number of distinctly "Victoriann characteristics which he adapted for use in the modern age. Croly had a metaphysician's concern for finding absolute conditions of morality and t ruth, he celebrated man's raüonal capacity to discover ultimate meaning which could transcend experience, and he advocated a teleological or ideal oriented approach to reform rather than an evolutionary one. Therefore, subsuming Croly's writings within the labels historians have used to define progressive thought only serves to obscure his intellectual legacy. To date, only two book-length studies of Herbert Croly have been written: Shapina Modern Liberalism: Herbert Crolv and Proaressive Thought, (1 993) by Edward Stettner, and Herbert Crolv of the New Re~ublic:The Life and Thought of an American Proaressive, (1986) by David W. Levy As the above tities suggest, both authors place Croly within the progressive intellectual tradition. Stettner evaluates Croly's body of work as an integral part of the redefinition of liberalism which emerged, itself, as one of the most enduring elements of the progressive legacy. Despite Croly's relative obscurity today, Stettner suggests 3 he was a committed progressive and pragmatist whose writings yielded a whole set of concrete political proposais for reform. Within this approach, Stettner examines Croly's writings on exceedingly technical terms by narrowly trying to uncover specific political or econornic indices of reformist liberal thought, and dismissing his philosophic discussion as mysticism. In lieu of context, David W. Levy fin& in Croly's past, influences that determined the character and substance of his work. Of fundamental importance for Levy was aie influence of Herbert's father, David Croly, who was a committed disciple of Auguste Comte's Positive philosophy. David laboured hard to irnpart his own enthusiasrn for Comte to his son. Having experienced an intellectual revolt against Positivism ai Harvard, Levy suggests Herbert returned to the philosophy of his father in The Promise of American Life. This thesis argues that while Herbert Croly may have shared the same moral ends as his father's "Religion of Humanity", his over-arching idealist philosophy did not share Positivism's methodology or fundamental premises. The substance of Herbert's revolt at Harvard, issuing from the influence of his teacher Josiah Royce, remained as his most enduring and profound intellectual debt. Thanks in part to the general conception of Croly as a progressive-pragmatist, Levy, like Stettner, does not account for the abstractions and idealism which are so essentially a part of Croly's thought-system. A number of other secondary works have chapters or sections analysing Croly's ouevres, the rnost significant of which are The Paradox of Proaressive Thouaht (1958) by David W. Noble; The Crossroads of Liberalism: Crolv. Wevl. Lippmann. and the