My focus this week turns to a brief comparison between two digital resources on the 19th century American philosopher, William James. One of the popularizers of the Pragmatist school of thought, James’ writings have been applied to questions of social justice in the 19th and 20th centuries, most notably by the philosophers and social activists, W.E.B. DuBois and Cornel West. The reason I wanted to look at these two archives is twofold: one, because many of the readings for the week, particularly the Earhart and Wernimont pieces, explicitly deal with issues of race and gender in digital spaces and the discussions this phenomenon brings about in terms of canonicity and institutions. One of these archives is hosted by the University of Kentucky, the other by Harvard University.
Earhart’s piece relates to these two archives insofar as questions of race and canonicity are concerned. James, a white man, was by training a logician, psychologist, and philosopher, whose writings, while not explicitly about race, could be applied to certain questions of the experience of race as they relate to questions of perception and experience. To James, individual experience and what he terms “common sense” constitute the construction of truth – thus, black writers such as DuBois West are able to apply James’ writings in new contexts, in racial, as well as religious dimensions. In a word, James is usually seen as an unmistakable member of the philosophical cannon, whose importance in contemporary philosophical discourses is not brought into question. Yet, the works inspired by James are typically not brought to the forefront. This is very much reflected in the Harvard James archive, which, while containing more exclusive material such as correspondences and manuscripts, does not discuss James in broader discussions relating to race, class, or gender.
What’s striking is that the non-Ivy league resource (the one from Kentucky) is much more inclusive in the sense that essays in the Pragmatist traditions are linked to and discussed. Moreover, works by James on aboriginal peoples are more prominently displayed. Yet, conversations of contemporary political importance are not highlighted. This is partially due to the lack of updates to the site, but due also to the institutional limitations and the unconscious use of an exclusive cannon that Earthart mentions.
Kentucky: http://www.uky.edu/~eushe2/Pajares/james.html
Harvard: http://hcl.harvard.edu/libraries/houghton/exhibits/james/problems.cfm
