Transcriber’s Notes:

Footnotes have been numbered sequentially and placed before the Bibliography.

Typographical errors in the main portion of the text that have been repaired are denoted by a dotted line. Hovering over the word will show the original text.

Typographical errors in the bibliography have been repaired without note, with a few exceptions (also denoted by a dotted line).

THE PRAGMATIC THEORY OF TRUTH AS DEVELOPED BY PEIRCE, JAMES, AND DEWEY

BY
DENTON LORING GEYER
B.A. University of Wisconsin, 1910
M.A. University of Wisconsin, 1911

THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
IN PHILOSOPHY
IN
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

1914

CONTENTS

• INTRODUCTION 3
• CHAPTER I.THE PRAGMATIC DOCTRINE AS ORIGINALLY PROPOSED BY PEIRCE 5
• CHAPTER II.THE INTERPRETATION GIVEN TO PRAGMATISM BY JAMES 17
  • James’ Exposition of Peirce 17
  • The Development of the Pragmatic Doctrine through the Earlier Writings of James 20
  • The Theory of Truth in ‘Pragmatism’ and ‘The Meaning of Truth’ 26
    • The Ambiguity of ‘Satisfaction’ 26
    • The Relation of Truth to Utility 29
    • The Relation of Satisfaction to Agreement and Consistency 32
• CHAPTER III.THE PRAGMATIC DOCTRINE AS SET FORTH BY DEWEY 35
  • “The Experimental Theory of Knowledge” 35
  • Contrast Between James and Dewey 38
• CHAPTER IV.SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION 41
• BIBLIOGRAPHY 44