Abstract: C HAUNCEY Wright is one of the most interesting figures in the history of American thought. His published papers in philosophy' are chiefly concerned with the analysis of various aspects of evolutionary theory and his competence in this area was praised by Darwin himself. Yet with the single exception of the phrase cosmical weather, which he used in a paper attacking the nebular hypothesis, and which he meant to represent a Lucretian fortuitousness in the universe,2 his writings are something less than memorable. He constructed no system; adhered consistently to no school. Gail Kennedy has used the term pragmatic naturalism to define his general approach to the problems about which he wrote.8 His most significant essay, The Evolution of Self-Consciousness, treats of man as a natural organism, differing from other natural organisms and from inorganic matter in degree rather than kind; Kennedy points out how Wright here anticipated William James's concept of pure experience. 4 Despite Wright's lack of literary ambition and of the will to influence people by the written word, he was highly praised by his friends and acquaintances, even when they disagreed with his views. John Fiske, the Spencerian, praised Wright, who consistently attacked Spencer, as a wise and amiable man, and declared that intellect more powerful from its happy union of acuteness with sobriety has probably not yet been seen in America.'5 Charles Saunders Peirce acknowledged an indebtedness to Wright for some of the guiding conceptions
Publication Year: 1946
Publication Date: 1946-12-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 4
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