Abstract

While James suggested the pragmatic meaning of the Absolute is that the Absolute provides a warrant for taking, now and then, a “moral holiday,” Royce envisioned it to be a justification for fighting in behalf of “lost causes.” The battle of the Absolute as waged between these two thinkers was, in no small measure, one bearing upon the human significance and value of the Absolute, especially in reference to experience, time, and history. In the first part of this paper, the author examines Royce’s understanding of lost causes in its original polemical context, whereas in the second part he recontextualizes Royce’s position by juxtaposing it to that of the contemporary theorist Edward Said. Royce’s position needs to be understood in its original context but also invites being considered in a more contemporary one.

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