5 - History
Summary
Finally, a truth is to be remembered which scarcely ever is remembered in estimating the past. It is the paradox that the past is always present: yet it is not what was, but whatever seems to have been; for all the past is a part of faith. (CW 20:440)
When on 14th November 1906 William James mounted the lectern at the Lowell Institute in Boston, his audience knew what to expect. His work as a psychologist and philosopher was prolific and celebrated; his scholarship was almost as well-known as the fiction of his younger brother, Henry. But the pioneering polymath of Harvard yard was yet capable of surprising the assembled. They had come to hear his thoughts on ‘The Present Dilemma in Philosophy’; they had come to glean the wisdom of a venerated professor. He cleared his throat, and what he gave them was G. K. Chesterton:
In the preface to that admirable collection of essays of his called ‘Heretics,’ Mr. Chesterton writes these words: ‘There are some people – and I am one of them – who think that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe. We think that for a landlady considering a lodger, it is important to know his income, but still more important to know his philosophy. We think that for a general about to fight an enemy, it is important to know the enemy's numbers, but still more important to know the enemy's philosophy. We think the question is not whether the theory of the cosmos affects matters, but whether, in the long run, anything else affects them.’
Perhaps James wanted to set an informal tone by opening with words from one who was at this time known primarily as a London hack with a side-line in pulp fiction. In any event, he clearly believed that Chesterton's remarks provided a useful way into his subsequent argument (‘I think with Mr. Chesterton in this matter’, he continues). It is the argument of this chapter that James's lecture also happens to provide a useful way back into Chesterton. Specifically, James's thoughts on how that ‘most practical and important thing about a man’ is formed may illuminate the perverse possibility that Chesterton often appears most confused, careless and contrarian where he aims to be most coherent, deliberate and sincere.
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- Information
- G.K. Chesterton , pp. 86 - 100Publisher: Liverpool University PressPrint publication year: 2012