罗素与詹姆士:在经验主义与实用主义之间

Russell and James: Between Empiricism and Pragmatism

罗素和詹姆士是两位富有影响的现代哲学家,他们二人之间有过激烈的思想交锋。罗素从英国经验主义传统和现代分析哲学的立场出发,率先对詹姆士的实用主义,尤其是其真理观发起了猛烈的批判,直陈其理论缺陷和实践危害。詹姆士则对罗素用来探讨哲学问题的逻辑分析方法持坚定的排斥态度,认为它过于抽象和空洞,无以发挥实际作用。不过,罗素接受了詹姆士的彻底经验主义,并对其做了进一步的发展。这二人之间的思想交锋反映出新兴的实用主义思潮与英国经验主义传统之间微妙的关系,对现代英美哲学传统的形成与发展起到了巨大的推进作用。

Russell and James are two influential modern philosophers.They had a fierce ideological confrontation.From the standpoint of British empiricism tradition and modern analytical philosophy, Russell took the lead in criticizing James’ pragmatism, especially his view of truth, and frankly stated his theoretical defects and practical harm.James firmly rejected Russell’s logical analysis method used to explore philosophical problems, believing that it was too abstract and empty to play a practical role.However, Russell accepted James’ radical empiricism and further developed it.The ideological confrontation between the two reflects the subtle relationship between the emerging trend of pragmatism and the British empiricism tradition, which has played a great role in promoting the formation and development of the modern British and American philosophical tradition.