-
Chauncey Wright: Theoretical Reason in a Naturalist Account of Human Consciousness
- Journal of the History of Ideas
- University of Pennsylvania Press
- Volume 73, Number 4, October 2012
- pp. 559-582
- 10.1353/jhi.2012.0044
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
Chauncey Wright was an early intellectual follower of Darwin, and a mentor to American pragmatists, C.S. Peirce and William James. Starting with the discussion of Wright’s interpretation of natural selection, the paper proceeds to outline the distinction he draws between theoretical (scientific) and practical consciousness and the way that this distinction plays out in his account of the development of human consciousness within the context of natural selection. Formulating the problem of reconfiguring the relationship between instrumental intelligence and detached theoretical reason in the light of evolutionary thinking is then identified as central to understanding Wright’s intellectual legacy.