The role of self -cultivation in classical pragmatism

Classical pragmatism is often interpreted to lack cohesive unity among its foundational figures. Though it is customarily recognized that the classical pragmatists share a common belief in an intimate relation between thinking and doing, the differences that distinguish them are frequently emphasized, while their similarities are downplayed. Through an historical analysis, I explore the moral dimension of Emerson, Thoreau, James, and Dewey. What I found is that the writings of Emerson and Thoreau contain the early seeds of pragmatic thought, and both emphasize self-cultivation as a fundamental part of their moral theory. With the development of Darwin's evolutionary theory of natural selection, classical pragmatism moved away from the strictly individualistic moral claims of transcendentalism. Nonetheless, James and Dewey continued to emphasize individualism in their philosophy. The shift in their thought toward more socialistic moral theories maintains the importance of the individual and the value of a growth-oriented, purpose-driven life. Like Emerson and Thoreau, James and Dewey present moral theories that integrally contain self-cultivation. It forms a unifying moral thread between the thought of the early proto-pragmatists Emerson and Thoreau and the fully developed pragmatism of James and Dewey.