Martin a coleman the essential santayana selected writings 2009

Essential

The

santayana
Selected Writings

Edited by

the Santayana Edition

Compiled and with an Introduction by

Martin A. Coleman


THE
ESSENTIAL

SANTAYANA



THE
ESSENTIAL

SANTAYANA
Selected Writings
edited by The Santayana Edition
compiled and with an introduction
by Martin A. Coleman

Indiana
University
Press
BLOOMINGTON AND INDIANAPOLIS


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This book is dedicated to
Angus Kerr-Lawson
whose editorial work and scholarship
have enriched and enlivened Santayana studies.



“[T]he spirit . . . has perceived that . . . it is in the hands of some alien and
inscrutable power. . . . I stand before [this power] simply receptive, somewhat
as, in Rome I might stand before the great fountain of Trevi. There I see jets
and cascades flowing in separate streams and in divers directions. I am not sure
that a single Pontifex Maximus designed it all, and led all those musical waters
into just those channels. Some streams may have dried up or been diverted
since the creation; some rills may have been added today by fresh rains from
heaven; behind one of those artificial rocks some little demon, of his own
free will, may even now be playing havoc with the conduits; and who knows
how many details, in my image, may not have been misplaced or multiplied
by optical tricks of my own? Yet here, for the spirit, is one total marvellous
impression, one thunderous force, confronting me with this theatrical but
admirable spectacle.”
“Ultimate Religion” (Essential Santayana, 340–41; originally appeared in Obiter
Scripta, 284–86). Photograph courtesy of Herman J. Saatkamp Jr.



Contents
Acknowledgments
Chronology of the Life and Work

of George Santayana
Bibliographical Abbreviations
About This Book
Introduction: The Essential Santayana

I.Autobiography
A General Confession (1940)
My Place, Time, and Ancestry (1944)
Epilogue on My Host, The World (1949)

II.Skepticism and Ontology
Philosophical Heresy (1915)
Preface [Scepticism and Animal Faith] (1923)
There Is No First Principle
of Criticism (1923)
Dogma and Doubt (1923)
Wayward Scepticism (1923)
Ultimate Scepticism (1923)
Nothing Given Exists (1923)
The Discovery of Essence (1923)
The Watershed of Criticism (1923)
Knowledge Is Faith
Mediated by Symbols (1923)
Belief in Substance (1923)
Literary Psychology (1923)
The Implied Being of Truth (1923)
Comparison with Other Criticisms
of Knowledge (1923)
Normal Madness (1925)
Some Meanings of the Word “Is” (1924)

Realms
Preface to
to Realms
Realms of
of Being
Being (1927)
(1927)
Preface
of
Being

xiii
xv
xix
xxv
xxvii

1
4
23
30

39
44
51
55
58
61
67
72

76
82
88
98
104
110
116
128
138
149
149


x

Contents

Various Approaches to Essence (1927)
The Being Proper to Essences (1927)
The Scope of Natural Philosophy (1930)
Indispensable Properties of Substance (1930)
Teleology (1930)
The Psyche (1930)
There Are No Necessary Truths (1937)
Facts Arbitrary, Logic Ideal (1937)
Interplay between Truth and Logic (1937)
Dramatic Truth (1937)
Moral Truth (1937)
Love and Hatred of Truth (1937)
Denials of Truth (1937)

I II.Rational Life in Art, Religion,
and Spirituality
The Elements and Function of Poetry (1900)
Introduction [The Life of Reason] (1905)
The Birth of Reason (1905)
How Religion May Be
an Embodiment of Reason (1905)
Justification of Art (1905)
The Criterion of Taste (1905)
Art and Happiness (1905)
Ultimate Religion (1933)
The Nature of Spirit (1940)
Liberation (1933)
Union (1933)

IV.Ethics and Politics
Prerational Morality (1906)
Rational Ethics (1906)
Post-Rational Morality (1906)
Hypostatic Ethics (1913)
Public Opinion (1951)
Government of the People (1951)
Who Are “The People”? (1951)

158
168
173
179
188

198
214
220
225
231
236
243
253

261
265
282
297
303
309
320
331
338
346
357
375

409
412
422
435
452
461
464
466

Contents

The United States as Leader (1951)
Conclusion [Dominations and Powers] (1951)

470
474

V.Literature, Culture, and Criticism 479
Sonnet III (1886)
To W. P. (1894)
Prologue [The Last Puritan] (1935)
Epilogue [The Last Puritan] (1935)
The Poetry of Barbarism (1900)
Emerson (1900)
The Genteel Tradition
in American Philosophy (1911)
English Liberty in America (1920)
The Genteel Tradition at Bay (1931)
The Ethics of Nietzsche (1915)
William James (1920)
Josiah Royce (1920)
Dewey’s Naturalistic Metaphysics (1936)
Index

482
483
486

493
497
519
526
541
555
578
584
595
609
623

xi



Acknowledgments
The editors of the Santayana Edition would like to thank the people who helped
in the production of The Essential Santayana.
John Lachs, Herman J. Saatkamp Jr., William G. Holzberger, and Angus KerrLawson laid the foundation for The Essential Santayana through many years of
documentary research, editorial work, critical scholarship, and conversations
with publishers.
We are grateful to the many scholars who answered our requests for suggestions for and comments on the content and organization of The Essential
Santayana, including Thomas Alexander, Michael Brodrick, James Campbell,
Matthew Caleb Flamm, James Gouinlock, Larry Hickman, Nathan Houser, Till
Kinzel, Tom Kirby-Smith, Marta Kunecka, Henry Samuel Levinson, Richard C.
Lyon, John McDermott, Daniel Moreno-Moreno, Richard M. Rubin, Krzysztof
Skowroñski, John J. Stuhr, Glenn Tiller, and Jessica Wahman.
We appreciate the efforts of our graduate student interns, including Geoffery
E. Gagen, who copied and scanned text selections; Christine McNulty, who

compiled and calculated survey results; Carrie Torrella-McCord, who proofread;
Christine Sego-Caldwell, who proofread and helped research information for the
headnotes; and Jay Perry, who researched publication information.
The Santayana Edition
Marianne S. Wokeck, Editor
Martin A. Coleman, Associate Editor
Kristine W. Frost, Associate Editor
Johanna E. Resler, Assistant Editor
David E. Spiech, Assistant Textual Editor
/>
xiii



Chronology of the Life and
Work of George Santayana
Adapted and abridged from William G. Holzberger, “Chronology,” Letters of
George Santayana, 1:443–60
1849 Josefina Borrás (c. 1826–1912), George Santayana’s mother, marries
George Sturgis (1817–57) of Boston, aboard British warship in Manila
Bay.
1857 George Sturgis dies in Manila at age forty.
1862 Josefina Borrás Sturgis marries Agustín Santayana (1814–93) in Madrid.
1863 George Santayana born on 16 December at No. 69, Calle Ancha de San
Bernardo, Madrid.
1864 Santayana christened Jorge Agustín Nicolás on 1 January in parish
church of San Marcos, Madrid.
1868 (or 1869) Santayana’s mother, with daughters Susana and Josephine,
moves to Boston to honor first husband’s wish that children be raised in
America; Santayana remains with father in Spain.

1872 Santayana and father travel to America in June; father returns to Ávila
several months later.
1882 Santayana graduates from Boston Latin School; attends Harvard College
in autumn.
1883 Santayana visits father in Spain for first time since coming to America.
Advised by William James at Harvard not to pursue philosophy.
1885 Meets John Francis (“Frank”) Stanley, 2d Earl Russell and elder brother
of Bertrand Russell, who becomes close friend.
1886 Santayana’s Bachelor of Arts degree is awarded summa cum laude and in
absentia. Begins study in Germany.
1889 Santayana completes dissertation on “Lotze’s System of Philosophy”
under direction of Josiah Royce; awarded Master of Arts and Doctor
of Philosophy degrees by Harvard University; begins as Instructor in
Philosophy at Harvard.
1893 Santayana’s father dies at age 79 during summer in Ávila; Santayana’s
student and friend Warwick Potter dies in October; at end of this year
Santayana undergoes his metanoia or fundamental change of heart
resulting in renunciation of the world.
1896 Santayana’s first book-length philosophical work is published by
Scribner’s: The Sense of Beauty: Being the Outlines of Aesthetic Theory. Spends
year at Cambridge University; appears in court in October to testify on
behalf of Frank Russell, defending against charges of estranged wife.
1897 Santayana resumes teaching at Harvard; lives with mother.
1898 Santayana promoted from instructor to assistant professor.
1899 Santayana’s Lucifer: A Theological Tragedy published.
xv


xvi

Chronology of the Life and Work of George Santayana

1900 Interpretations of Poetry and Religion published.
1904 Santayana sails from New York to Plymouth, England, in mid-July; visits
Paris, Rome, Venice, Naples, Pompeii, Sicily, and Greece.
1905 Visits Egypt, Palestine, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Damascus, Baalbeck, Beirut,
Athens, Constantinople, Budapest, and Vienna. While still abroad,
Santayana invited by Harvard to become Hyde Lecturer at the Sorbonne
for 1905–6. First four volumes of The Life of Reason; or, the Phases of
Human Progress published.
1906 Fifth volume of The Life of Reason published. Santayana returns to
America in September; resumes teaching at Harvard.
1907 Santayana promoted from assistant professor to full professor.
1911 In April Santayana delivers final lecture at Harvard. Travels to Wisconsin
and California.
1912 Santayana departs America for last time on 24 January. Mother dies on
5 February.
1913 Winds of Doctrine: Studies in Contemporary Opinion published.
1914 World War I breaks out; Santayana remains in Oxford until April 1919.
1916 Egotism in German Philosophy published.
1920 Santayana begins spending winters in Rome; continues to summer in
Paris, Ávila, Glion, at Lake Geneva, or Cortina d’Ampezzo.
1923 Scepticism and Animal Faith and last collection of Santayana’s poetry
to appear during his lifetime, Poems: Selected by the Author and Revised,
published.
1925 Dialogues in Limbo published.
1927 Santayana meets Daniel Cory, age 22, who will become his assistant and
friend. The Realm of Essence: Book First of Realms of Being published.
1928 Santayana declines offer of the Norton Chair of Poetry at Harvard for
1928–29. Half sister Susana dies in Ávila, on 10 February, at age 77.

1930 Half sister Josephine dies in Ávila, on 15 October, at age 77. The Realm of
Matter: Book Second of Realms of Being published.
1931 The Genteel Tradition at Bay published. In December Santayana declines
offer to become William James Professor of Philosophy at Harvard.
1932 Santayana attends philosophical congress commemorating tercentenary
of Spinoza’s birth, held at The Hague on 6–10 September; delivers
a lecture on “Ultimate Religion.” Attends meeting in London to
commemorate tercentenary of John Locke’s birth; on 19 October
delivers address on “Locke and the Frontiers of Common Sense.”
1933 Some Turns of Thought in Modern Philosophy published.
1935 The Last Puritan: A Memoir in the Form of a Novel published in London
(published in New York the next year).
1936 The Last Puritan becomes Book-of-the-Month Club bestseller.
1937 The Realm of Truth: Book Third of Realms of Being published in London
(published in New York the next year).
1938 The first book-length biography, George Santayana, by George Washburne
Howgate published.


Chronology of the Life and Work of George Santayana

xvii

1939 World War II breaks out in Europe; Santayana denied regular long-term
visa by Swiss officials, decides to remain in Italy.
1940 The Realm of Spirit: Book Fourth of Realms of Being published. The Philosophy
of George Santayana published.
1941 Santayana moves into nursing home operated by Blue Sisters of the
Little Company of Mary, an order of Roman Catholic Irish nuns.
1944 Persons and Places published; becomes bestseller.

1945 The Middle Span published. Santayana awarded Nicholas Murray Butler
Medal by Columbia University.
1946 The Idea of Christ in the Gospels; or, God in Man: A Critical Essay published.
1948 Dialogues in Limbo, With Three New Dialogues published.
1951 Dominations and Powers: Reflections on Liberty, Society, and Government
published.
1952 On 4 June Santayana falls on the steps of the Spanish Consulate in
Rome; injuries include three broken ribs, bleeding head wound, and
patches of pneumonia on lungs; physician is amazed by Santayana’s
recovery. Santayana continues working until increasing blindness and
illness make further labor impossible. On 26 September Santayana dies
of stomach cancer. On 30 September his body is interred in the Tomb of
the Spaniards.
1953 My Host the World published. The Posthumous Poems, together with two
early plays, published as The Poet’s Testament: Poems and Two Plays.
1955 The Letters of George Santayana, a selection of two hundred and ninety-six
letters to eighty-six recipients, edited by Daniel Cory, published.



Bibliographical Abbreviations
The following is a list of abbreviations and bibliographical references to Santayana’s
works and secondary source materials. The abbreviations are used for books cited
in the introductions and head notes. Citations from the current work are referenced by (ES, page number).

Primary Sources
BR

Birth of Reason & Other Essays. Edited by Daniel Cory. New York and
London: Columbia University Press, 1968.

COUS Character and Opinion in the United States: With Reminiscences of William
James and Josiah Royce and Academic Life in America. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons; London: Constable and Co. Ltd.; Toronto: McLeod,
1920. Volume eleven of the critical edition of The Works of George
Santayana (WGS ).
CP

The Complete Poems of George Santayana: A Critical Edition. Edited by
William G. Holzberger. Lewisburg, PA: Bucknell University Press;
London: Associated University Presses, 1979.

DL

Dialogues in Limbo. London: Constable and Co. Ltd., 1925; New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1926. Volume fourteen of the critical edition
(WGS ).

DP

Dominations and Powers: Reflections on Liberty, Society, and Government.
New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; London: Constable and Co. Ltd.,
1951. Volume nineteen of the critical edition (WGS ).

EGP

Egotism in German Philosophy. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons;
London and Toronto: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1916. Volume ten of the
critical edition (WGS ).

GTB

The Genteel Tradition at Bay. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons;
London: “The Adelphi,” 1931. Volume seventeen of the critical edition
(WGS ).

HC

A Hermit of Carmel and Other Poems. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons,
1901; London: R. Brimley Johnson, 1902.

ICG

The Idea of Christ in the Gospels; or, God in Man: A Critical Essay. New
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; Toronto: Saunders, 1946. Volume
eighteen of the critical edition (WGS ).

IPR

Interpretations of Poetry and Religion. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons;
London: Black, 1900. Volume three of the critical edition (WGS )
edited by William G. Holzberger and Herman J. Saatkamp Jr., with
xix


xx

Bibliographical Abbreviations

an introduction by Joel Porte. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1989.

(Citations refer to critical edition page numbers.)
LP

The Last Puritan: A Memoir in the Form of a Novel. London: Constable
and Co. Ltd., 1935; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1936; Volume
four of the critical edition (WGS ) edited by William G. Holzberger
and Herman J. Saatkamp Jr., with an introduction by Irving Singer.
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1994. (Citations refer to critical
edition page numbers.)

LGS

The Letters of George Santayana. Volume Five (in eight books) of the
critical edition (WGS ) edited by William G. Holzberger, Herman
J. Saatkamp Jr., and Marianne S. Wokeck, with an introduction by
William G. Holzberger. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2000–2008.
(Citations in the notes refer to book and page number; i.e., LGS, 8:150
is page 150 of Book Eight.)

LR

The Life of Reason: or, the Phases of Human Progress. Five volumes. New
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; London: Constable and Co. Ltd.,
1905–06. Volume seven of the critical edition of WGS edited by Martin
Coleman and Marianne Wokeck, with an introduction by James
Gouinlock.
LR1

Introduction and Reason in Common Sense. Volume 1, 1905.

LR2

Reason in Society. Volume 2, 1905.

LR3

Reason in Religion. Volume 3, 1905.

LR4

Reason in Art. Volume 4, 1905.

LR5

Reason in Science. Volume 5, 1906.

LE

Little Essays: Drawn From the Writings of George Santayana by Logan
Pearsall Smith, With the Collaboration of the Author. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons; London: Constable and Co. Ltd., 1920.

LUC

Lucifer: A Theological Tragedy. Chicago and New York: Herbert S. Stone,
1899.

LHT

Revised limited second edition published as Lucifer, or the Heavenly

Truce: A Theological Tragedy. Cambridge, MA: Dunster House; London:
W. Jackson, 1924.

OB

Obiter Scripta: Lectures, Essays and Reviews. Edited by Justus Buchler
and Benjamin Schwartz. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; London:
Constable and Co. Ltd., 1936.

PP

Persons and Places: Fragments of Autobiography. Volume one of the critical
edition (WGS ) edited by William G. Holzberger and Herman J.
Saatkamp Jr., with an introduction by Richard C. Lyon. Cambridge,


Bibliographical Abbreviations

xxi

MA: The MIT Press, 1986. (Citations refer to critical edition page
numbers.)
PP1
Persons and Places: The Background of My Life. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons; London: Constable and Co. Ltd., 1944.
PP2
The Middle Span. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1945;
London: Constable and Co. Ltd., 1947.
My Host the World. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons;
PP3

London: Cresset Press, 1953.
POML Physical Order and Moral Liberty. Edited by John Lachs. Nashville, TN:
Vanderbilt University Press, 1969.
PSL

Platonism and the Spiritual Life. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons;
London: Constable and Co. Ltd., 1927. Volume fifteen of the critical
edition (WGS ).

PSA

Poems: Selected by the Author and Revised. London: Constable and Co.
Ltd., 1922; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1923.

PT

The Poet’s Testament: Poems and Two Plays. New York: Charles Scribner’s
Sons, 1953.

RB

Realms of Being. Four volumes. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons;
London: Constable and Co. Ltd., 1927–40. Volume sixteen of the
critical edition (WGS ).
RE

The Realm of Essence: Book First of Realms of Being, 1927.

RM

The Realm of Matter: Book Second of Realms of Being, 1930.

The Realm of Truth: Book Third of Realms of Being. London:
RT
Constable; Toronto: Macmillan Company, 1937; New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons, 1938.
RS

The Realm of Spirit: Book Fourth of Realms of Being, 1940.

RB1

Realms of Being. One-volume edition, with a new introduction by the
author. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1942.

SAF

Scepticism and Animal Faith: Introduction to a System of Philosophy. New
York: Charles Scribner’s Sons; London: Constable and Co. Ltd., 1923.
Volume thirteen of the critical edition (WGS ).

SB

The Sense of Beauty: Being the Outlines of Aesthetic Theory. New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons; London: A. and C. Black, 1896. Volume two
of the critical edition (WGS ) edited by William G. Holzberger and
Herman J. Saatkamp Jr., with an introduction by Arthur C. Danto.
Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1988. (Citations refer to critical
edition page numbers.)

xxii

Bibliographical Abbreviations

SE

Soliloquies in England and Later Soliloquies. New York: Charles Scribner’s
Sons; London: Constable and Co. Ltd., 1922. Volume twelve of the
critical edition (WGS ).

SOV

Sonnets and Other Verses. Cambridge and Chicago: Stone and Kimball,
1894.

TTMP Some Turns of Thought in Modern Philosophy: Five Essays. New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1933. Volume seventeen of the critical edition (WGS ).
TPP

Three Philosophical Poets: Lucretius, Dante, and Goethe. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1910.
Volume eight of the critical edition (WGS ) edited by Martin Coleman
and Marianne Wokeck, with an introduction by James Seaton.

WD

Winds of Doctrine: Studies in Contemporary Opinion. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons; London: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1913. Volume nine of

the critical edition (WGS ).

Secondary Sources
WAGS Arnett, Willard. George Santayana. New York: Washington Square Press,
1968.
LY

Cory, Daniel. Santayana: The Later Years: A Portrait with Letters. New
York: George Braziller, 1963.

UAS

Flamm, Matthew Caleb, and Krzysztof Piotr Skowroñski, editors. Under
Any Sky: Contemporary Readings of George Santayana. Newcastle upon
Tyne, United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2007.

AFSL Lachs, John, editor. Animal Faith and the Spiritual Life. New York:
Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1967.
JLGS Lachs, John. George Santayana. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988.
OnS

Lachs, John. On Santayana. Belmont, CA; London: Wadsworth, 2001.

SPSL Levinson, Henry S. Santayana, Pragmatism, and the Spiritual Life. Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1992.
GSB

McCormick, John. George Santayana: A Biography. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1987.

BSS

Overheard in Seville: Bulletin of the Santayana Society. Edited by Angus
Kerr-Lawson.



< />

Bibliographical Abbreviations

xxiii

PGS

Schilpp, Paul Arthur, editor. The Philosophy of George Santayana.
Volume II of The Library of Living Philosophers. Evanston and Chicago:
Northwestern University Press, 1940.

TRS

Singer, Beth. The Rational Society: A Critical Study of Santayana’s Thought.
Cleveland, OH: Press of Case Western Reserve University, 1970.

SAEP Sprigge, Timothy L. S. Santayana. London and Boston: Routledge,
1995. Second edition of Santayana: An Examination of his Philosophy,
with a new introduction, select bibliography, and a foreword by Angus
Kerr-Lawson.
LITE

Woodward, Anthony. Living in the Eternal: A Study of George Santayana.
Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 1988.