“He Finds Us Wanting”: Morrison I. Swift and the Anarchism of William James

Abstract

In Pragmatism’s (1907) opening lecture, William James reveals his anarchist sympathies when he introduces the writing of a contemporary Boston activist, Morrison I. Swift. Before reciting from Swift’s “Human Submission” (1905), James extols Swift as “that valiant anarchistic writer” with whom he “[sympathizes] a good deal” and next confesses, “Swift’s anarchism goes a little farther than mine does” (1907/1978, 20–21, 21). In this article, I put James in conversation with Swift to examine the anarchist commitments in “Human Submission” James might have found compelling and those he might have rejected. By treating Swift as a serious interlocutor with James, an alternative understanding of James’s anarchism emerges, which I name “anarchism as a way of life.” James and Swift would likely find each other’s anarchist vision “wanting” (23), but where they diverge reveals both insights and shortcomings of James’s anarchism as a way of life.