Abstract

Though William James left no comprehensive political philosophy, current scholarly consensus holds that his pluralism underwrites a robust imperative for creative freedom and hence some form of Liberal politics. Earlier in the 20 th century, however, things were different: James was initially considered an ideological dogmatist and a forerunner of Fascism and syndicalism. This article examines two such readings in the work of Georges Sorel and Ernst Bloch, and argues that these philosophers pinpoint a weakness at the heart of James’s political vision often ignored by contemporary acolytes: his lack of a social theory. Given that the challenge of Pragmatism is to begin with concrete problems, it then interrogates the possibilities and limitations of James as a political thinker in modern society. It concludes by drawing several Jamesian lessons gleaned from these provocative misreadings