in TRUTH 61 



enough to produce complete social agreement, and the 

 elimination of all discrepant truth. Indeed, the toleration 

 of socially useless, and even pernicious, truths, which are 

 individually entertained, seems on the whole to be 

 increasing. This only shows that we can afford the 

 luxury. In earlier times the thinkers of divergent views 

 had short shrift granted them, and so, partly as the result 

 of much past brutality, we now enjoy considerable bodies 

 of objective truth. And considering how much use 

 philosophers have always made of this indulgence to 

 differ from their fellows, it would be gracious if they at 

 least gave honour where honour was due, and appreciated 

 the labours of their ancestors, instead of attributing the 

 whole credit of the conformity which exists to the initial 

 constitution of the Absolute. Or if they insist on it, 

 they might at least, in common fairness, attempt to tell us 

 to whom the discredit should attach for the discrepancy 

 and nonconformity, which exist no less and are by far 

 more troublesome, even if they are too indolent to help 

 in the practical work of science, which enlarges the limits 

 of practical agreement and constitutes objective truth. 



To sum up ; the answer to the question What is 

 Truth ? to which our Pragmatism has conducted us, is - 

 this. As regards the psychical fact of the truth-valuation, 

 Truth may be called an ultimate attitude and specific 

 function of our intellectual activity. As regards the 

 objects valued as true, Truth is that manipulation of 

 them which has after trial been adopted as useful, primarily 

 for any human end, but ultimately for that perfect 

 harmony of our whole life which forms our final aspiration. 



