Comments on: Pragmatizing Mormonism and Baptizing William James; or Was William James a Closet Mormon (and Joseph Smith a Proto-Pragmatist). Part I on William James and Mormonism

By: Clark

Clark — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:05:04 +0000

BTW – Peirce is better to read than James (IMO). I think James expanded pragmatism far too much.

By: Clark

Clark — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 21:11:40 +0000

Stan I used to have a quote by Brigham Young arguing against Orson Pratt and especially Orson Pratt’s method that uses the term pragmatic. But I can’t for the life of me find it anymore. In any case I’d argue that in some important ways Young has a lot of similarities to the pragmatists although not ultimately in religious belief.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:46:18 +0000

Thanks, Stan. Keep us updated on anything else you “unpack” that might offer more insight.

By: stan

stan — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:56:40 +0000

I think he may have simply been referring to Mormonism’s tendency to translate beleif into action, such as past cooperative ventures, agriculture, etc. But I kinda feel there was more to what he was saying that I haven’t unpacked yet.

By: Christopher

Christopher — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:35:48 +0000

At the beginning of the post I quoted Levi Edgar Young as saying that Mormonism better illustrated the theory of Pragmatism than any other soicety. Any thoughts on why he may have suggested that?

I had the exact same question after reading the post, and unfortunately have no firm idea what LEY might have meant.

By: stan

stan — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:49:33 +0000

At the beginning of the post I quoted Levi Edgar Young as saying that Mormonism better illustrated the theory of Pragmatism than any other soicety. Any thoughts on why he may have suggested that?

By: stan

stan — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:26:49 +0000

Clark: I can’t say I’m enough of a James expert to really be able to judge how much common ground there is between the two. But my main point here has not been to actually suggest that WJ was a closet Mormon (just thought it was a clever title) but to point out that he was familiar with Mormonism and that some Mormons have tried to figure out just how much. As for whether his Mormon reading affected his actual held theories…I think it prudent to be skeptical, but significant Mormon thinkers have seen what to them seemed to be significant resonance.
Having only recently begun reading James myself, and being far from an expert on the matter, any further enlightenment on James from those in the know is more them welcome.

By: Clark

Clark — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 03:16:41 +0000

To add, I see a lot valuable to Mormons amongst the pragmatists (despite how much Nibley hated Dewey). Especially in epistemology (which I’ve written a lot on at my blog). But in terms of the ontology of God there just ain’t much there…

By: Clark

Clark — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 03:15:39 +0000

Can I say that outside of a few superficialities I just can’t see James and Mormons as having that much common ground?

By: J. Max Wilson

J. Max Wilson — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:25:36 +0000

The father of William James, Henry James Sr., was a noted Swedenborgian theologian. Apostates have often claimed Swedenborg as a source for “The Vision” given to the prophet and elder Rigdon recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 76. Having read a translation of Swedenborg’s “Treatise Concerning Heaven and Hell,” I can tell you that the similarity is grossly overplayed. However, what similarities there are may account for any afinity for Mormonism by either his novelist son Henry Jr., or William. (They must have had some fascinating family discussions!)