ABSTRACT
Pragmatism is a theory of truth which springs from a theory of thought. It holds that thought is an instrument to practical ends, and hence that truth is measured by success in reaching those ends. What has aroused most interest in pragmatism is no doubt its view of truth. But our theory of truth is commonly arrived at by way of a theory of thought. We know that it is the business of thought to seek what is true, and when we are asked what sense we attach to ‘truth’, we are likely to find our answer by looking into the activity of thinking and trying to make out what sort of satisfaction would bring it finally to rest. In puzzling out a problem, just when have we arrived at the truth of the matter ? Presumably when our problem is solved. But when is the problem solved? No doubt when thought is satisfied. But when is thought satisfied? When it has got all the relevant facts into a system ? When its suggestion has worked out in practice? Or when? One cannot answer this question from the outside. It can be answered only from within, through a disclosure by thought, in response to insistent inquiry, of the end it is really seeking. And to find that end is the business of the theory of thought.
