That extraordinary thinker William James declared that “The history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments” (11). Although philosophers may attempt to judge only by logic and evidence, temperament “loads the evidence” and influences the conclusions drawn from it. James says of the philosopher, “He trusts his temperament. Wanting a universe that suits it, he believes in any representation of the universe that does suit it” (11). And what is true of philosophers must of course be true of the rest of us as well. In every area of human life, James says, there seems to be a basic contrast. In politics, there are liberals and conservatives; in art, romantics and classics; in the philosophy of James’s time, idealists and materialists; and, in general, there are optimists and pessimists. All these are variants of the contrast between temperaments he calls the “tenderminded” and the “toughminded,” resulting in “a more sentimental or a more hard-hearted view of the universe” (11). The two types clash: “The tough think of the tender as sentimentalists and soft-heads. The tender feel the tough to be unrefined, callous, or brutal” (14).
February 23, 2024
February 23, 2024
February 23, 2024
That extraordinary thinker William James declared that “The history of philosophy is to a great extent that of a certain clash of human temperaments” (11). Although philosophers may attempt to judge only by logic and evidence, temperament “loads the evidence” and influences the conclusions drawn from it. James says of the philosopher, “He trusts his temperament. Wanting a universe that suits it, he believes in any representation of the universe that does suit it” (11). And what is true of philosophers must of course be true of the rest of us as well. In every area of human life, James says, there seems to be a basic contrast. In politics, there are liberals and conservatives; in art, romantics and classics; in the philosophy of James’s time, idealists and materialists; and, in general, there are optimists and pessimists. All these are variants of the contrast between temperaments he calls the “tenderminded” and the “toughminded,” resulting in “a more sentimental or a more hard-hearted view of the universe” (11). The two types clash: “The tough think of the tender as sentimentalists and soft-heads. The tender feel the tough to be unrefined, callous, or brutal” (14).