Philosophical Analysis and Human Welfare

When I was Dickinson Miller's assistant from 1940 to 1942, I soon realized that I had encountered an unusually powerful, acute, and original mind and a writer whose clear but vivid style matched the high quality of his intelligence. These traits were apparent in his comments about eminent philosophers with whom he had associated - particularly William James but also Santayana, Dewey, Husserl, and Wittgenstein - and in the mutual criticism he demanded of his writing and my first efforts. I was pleased and felt immensely privileged to share in his planning of a book devoted to "analysis, the method of philosophy at work" as in his articles on the knowledge-problem, induction, and free will. In view of the penetration of his articles, such a book seemed long overdue as James had insisted even in 1905. When Miller's projected book on "analysis at work" did not appear by 1956, I consulted him about putting together a collection of his published essays. Such a collection seemed but slight homage to one who had made such a striking contribution to American philosophy in rela tion to James and one from whom I had learned so much. He felt, however, that such a collection would be inappropriate and preferred to concentrate on a book, never finished, on "the principles of practical intelligence", the application of intelligence in a "morality of results" for human welfare.

Texte du rabat

When I was Dickinson Miller's assistant from 1940 to 1942, I soon realized that I had encountered an unusually powerful, acute, and original mind and a writer whose clear but vivid style matched the high quality of his intelligence. These traits were apparent in his comments about eminent philosophers with whom he had associated - particularly William James but also Santayana, Dewey, Husserl, and Wittgenstein - and in the mutual criticism he demanded of his writing and my first efforts. I was pleased and felt immensely privileged to share in his planning of a book devoted to "analysis, the method of philosophy at work" as in his articles on the knowledge-problem, induction, and free will. In view of the penetration of his articles, such a book seemed long overdue as James had insisted even in 1905. When Miller's projected book on "analysis at work" did not appear by 1956, I consulted him about putting together a collection of his published essays. Such a collection seemed but slight homage to one who had made such a striking contribution to American philosophy in rela­ tion to James and one from whom I had learned so much. He felt, however, that such a collection would be inappropriate and preferred to concentrate on a book, never finished, on "the principles of practical intelligence", the application of intelligence in a "morality of results" for human welfare.

Contenu
Dickinson S. Miller On Analysis, Pragmatism, and Welfare - An Introduction.- Teachers and Teaching.- Fullerton and Philosophy.- A Student's Impressions of William James.- James and Analysis.- George Santayana.- Is Philosophy a Good Training for the Mind?.- Analysis: The Method of Philosophy at Work.- The Relations of 'Ought' and 'Is'.- Free Will as Involving Determination and Inconceivable Without It [Revised].- Is There Not a Clear Solution of the Knowledge-Problem?.- A Debt to James.- Universals.- An Event In Modern Philosophy with Hume.- Hume's Deathblow to Deductivism.- Moral Truth.- Religion and Human Welfare.- What Religion Has To Do With It.- The Defense of the Faith Today.- Heart and Head.- Democracy and Our Intellectual Plight.- Matthew Arnold, On the Occasion of His Centenary.- Conscience and the Bishops.- James's Doctrine of 'The Right to Believe'[Revised].- Morals, Intelligence, and Welfare.- Published Writings of Dickinson S. Miller.- Publications about Dickinson S. Miller.