acts of some sort (stumpf 399). Through thought, we try to fix our beliefs so that we shall have a guide for our action, Peirce said. He was also an advocate of the scientific method. He said this requires not only a truth that a person believes but also how he arrived at this truth, and also requires that there be a certain degree of cooperation between the members of the scientific community. In correspondence with the scientific method Peirce believed that to do you must have a belief that requires thought(Joad 341). In addition, he believed that whether it is for devotion to Christianity or own personal consolation he should believe in a future life rather then base all beliefs on what science implies (Choron 286).William James studied pragmatism through psychology and religion. James thought originally about philosophy; The whole function of philosophy ought to be to find out what definite difference it will make to you and me, at definite instants in our life, if this world formula or that world formula be the true one. In James book The Varieties of Religious Experience he took a positive attitude toward religion yet opposed the idealist schools of speculative ideas (Choron 283). James was a very methodical man. Truth happens to an idea was another theory of James. In order for an idea to be true an event must make it true. This theory goes against all traditional beliefs and was controversial, if it was accepted at all. James decided that there are two groups of philosophers; those which are optimistic who believe in religion and free will, and those who are empiricists which go by fact (Joad 324).John Dewey was the most famous pragmatic philosopher. He theorized about ethics and social behavior. Deweys philosophy centered on the phrase learning by doing. Prior to Dewey most educators taught using rote learning methods, but Dewey emphasized thinking for yourself rather than memorizing other peoples ideas. His views ...
