224 DOGMATISM AND EVOLUTION 



the va'ues of things, may be regarded as negligible. The two 

 steps of the pragmatist's procedure are then quite clear. In the 

 first place, he feels it incumbent upon him to meet pertinent 

 objections to the doctrine; and this is done according to the 

 ordinary methods of logical procedure. But when this is success- 

 fully accomplished, he then, in the second place, cuts the processes 

 of reasoning short, and, with a distinct and final act of belief, 

 commits himself without question to the supremely valued 

 dogma. 



Now how is it that this curious theory has become identified 

 with that great leveler of all dualisms, pragmatism? A super- 

 ficial resemblance is not far to seek. According to the functional 

 conception of truth upon which pragmatism is based, the validity 

 of a proposition depends upon its satisfactoriness as a working- 

 hypothesis in the accomplishment of intelligent purposes; it is 

 true 'when it works.' And according to the will-to-believe 

 theory, too, the belief is true because it 'works'; but its working 

 means, not its verification in the successful accomplishment of 

 intelligent designs, but simply the pleasantness of the idea itself, 

 or the encouragement given by it. 



In short, the will-to-believe, instead of going to substantiate 

 the essential doctrine of pragmatism, that logical validity is 

 throughout conditioned by interests and values, implies, by the 

 very particularity and circumstantiality of the connection which 

 it asserts, that no more complete and intimate union between 

 them exists. In this respect, the will-to-believe presents an in- 

 structive analogy to the transcendent ideas, by means of which 

 Kant attempted to bridge the gap between theoretical and prac- 

 tical reason. In each case, the resort to special means of con- 

 nection is a confession of the utter divorce of reason and will 

 assumed at the outset. 



At bottom, the will-to-believe theory is a relapse into dogma- 

 tism. Somewhere, it is felt, amid the sea of fleeting experiences 

 an anchorage must be found; and if within the limits of logical 

 thought no firm bottom can be reached, then it must be sought 



