TITLE: The Spirit of Modern Philosophy Revisited: A Committed Jamesian Reconsiders Royce
ABSTRACT: As a callow undergraduate four decades ago I somehow won an essay contest on a subject whose opacity continues, to this day, to mystify me: the respective Idealistic systems of Fichte and Schelling. My essay drew heavily on Royce's The Spirit of Modern Philosophy, before I really had any clue about who Royce even was. But in grad school I learned that he was William James's friendly antagonist, colleague, and neighbor, an expositor of a perspective in philosophy that James found reprehensible and that our age has all but forgotten. Many of my own colleagues have worked tirelessly to revive and extend Royce's legacy. Until now, I've been content to leave them to it while I continued mostly to circle James's pedestal.
But now, spurred by John Kaag's compelling discussion of Royce in American Philosophy: A Love Story, historian Allen Guelzo's commendation of Royce (not James) as America's Philosopher ("Dissenter for the Absolute," in First Things, January 2016), and David Brooks's subsequent shout-out in the New York Times ("Your Loyalties Are Your Life: The Philosopher We Need Today," January 24, 2019), I find myself impelled to take another look. Is it "Damn the Absolute!" or Damn, the Absolute"? I realize now that I was then pretty clueless, not only about Fichte and Schelling but also the source whose authoritative voice (mis)led me into thinking I'd understood them.
I thus undertake here to revisit Royce, and The Spirit of Modern Philosophy in particular, to look for clues: what did I read in Royce all those years ago that seemed to clarify the murky metaphysics of those old Germans, and does that shed light on the merits and alleged present timeliness of his own thought? Is he in fact the philosopher for our times? Is there room on that stone wall for James and Royce together?
Loyaltty (SEP)... Gawande on Royce on loyalty... Loyalty to Loyalty: Josiah Royce and the Genuine Moral Life...Royce for the 21st century (Parker)... Royce in Focus (Kegley)
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