William James on pragmatism

In late 1906, William James gave a series of lectures on the topic of a newly coalesced philosophical approach that had come to be known as &ldquo;pragmatism.&rdquo; His second lecture was titled &ldquo; What Pragmatism Means .&rdquo; It starts with a story that illustrates what you might call the &ldquo;pragmatic temperament.&rdquo; I try to have that temperament myself. SOME YEARS AGO, being…