The Pragmatist Perspectives of William James and John Dewey and Their Relevance for an Institutionalist and Pluralistic Approach in Economics

In the progressive movement that characterised the US intellectual life in the period between the last decade of the nineteenth and the first decades of the twentieth century, and that had its intellectual core in important American universities and research institutions, pragmatism played a central role. As a matter of fact, its influence extended well beyond the sphere of philosophy for reaching out—through a synergic process of reciprocal influence—to Original Institutional Economics, the Sociological School of Chicago, and other fields of social and psychological sciences.On that account, while there has been a wide acknowledgment of this intellectual movement, there are still aspects that perhaps demand more attention. In this light, we will consider various contributions of William James and John Dewey that—with their emphasis on the imperfect and context-related nature of truth and knowledge, the role of habits, and an innovative, socially grounded conception of liberalism—can help build an institutionalist and pluralistic approach in economics. In that perspective, we will pay particular attention to how the pragmatist perspective of William James and John Dewey can synergically interact with the instrumental value perspective in institutional economics.