awakening as is the man who wills to believe that stocks will go up or
down. But mark what this means: it means that _he is not in danger of
finding out what the truth really is_. It does not mean that he is in
possession of the truth.

So I say, the doctrine which we are discussing is not a method of
attaining to truth. What it really attempts to do is to point out to
us how it is prudent for us to act when we cannot discover what the
truth is.[6]


[1] "An Essay concerning Human Understanding," Book II, Chapter I,
section 2.

[2] Book I, Chapter I, section 4.

[3] Book I, Chapter I, section 1.

[4] "Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology," article "Pragmatism."

[5] Published in 1897 and 1898.

[6] For references to later developments of pragmatism, see the note on
page 312.




V. THE PHILOSOPHICAL SCIENCES