ABSTRACT
Chapter two studies the origins of modern thought in the United States. Franz Boas’ travel to the Arctic to study the Inuit (Eskimo) peoples for his dissertation opened up his idea of cultural relativism. His encounter with the Inuit forced him to reconsider some basic assumptions of nineteenth-century racial ideologies and helped to usher in modern racial relativism. In the United States, pragmatists William James and John Dewey, along with historian W.E.B. Dubois and activist Jane Addams were early shapers of modern thought. Firm believers in historical progress, they believed their ideas and actions would lead to the progressive liberation of humans. They raised up rational scientific thought and reform efforts, praised the power of the individual and understood their goal as liberation from the past. The philosophy of pragmatism became a tool for rescuing its adherents from the monism/absolutism of nineteenth-century European ideologies. Instead, the pragmatists embraced experience, verifiability, and a scientific outlook. In addition, in a manner similar to the Pragmatists, Franz Boas, not a pragmatist per say, exhibited the same commitment to science and began to debunk nineteenth-century racial ideologies by arguing culture and history shaped civilization, not race. Boas and DuBois began to question the inherency of race as a signifier of intellect and advancement. In this atmosphere of change and intellectual ferment, racial liberation seemed imminent. However, these modernists could not escape the past so easily. Racial codes were deeply embedded in American life, especially in the South. And John Dewey the pragmatist and educational philosopher acknowledged the continuing power of the past by stating European monism was the “permanent deposit” made on American philosophy. World War I presented American intellectuals with a confounding question of their loyalty to the nation. Pragmatists split over the issue and were called to task by Randolph Bourne. A former student of John Dewey, he attacked Dewey’s support for the war, arguing World War I served the purposes of bankers and industrialists, not the average American foot soldier who risked his life in battle.
