themes which in my opinion have not been sufficiently aired and
which deserve further consideration. These can be called
"neglected arguments," an obvious reference to Peirce's defense
of theism, though with a different purpose.

The philosophers treated are the empiricists John Locke and
David Hume and the pragmatists Charles Sanders Peirce, William
James, and John Dewey. Not all five philosophers have discussed
explicitly and in detail every topic included in this volume. For
example, Hume and Peirce did so regarding necessary connection
and causality, but not Locke and James. But it is possible to draw
from the writings of the latter two their own positions on these
topics.

There will indeed be some overlap between my own
explorations and those of others. After all, what new can be said
on the pragmatic notion of experience? But I am pretentious or
deluded enough to think that I can offer some new and perhaps
even controversial interpretations which may prompt others to go
back and read these philosophers from a fresh perspective. In the
long run and in true pragmatic fashion, I shall have to wait for the
consequences as expressed by the reactions of whatever readers
may peruse these pages!

-viii-