workable theory of the universe. But
God need not be infinite or all-inclusive, for 'all that the facts
require is that the power should be both other and larger than our common
selves.'[20] Such a conception of God, even on James's own admission, is
akin to polytheism. And such polytheism implies a pluralistic view of
the universe. The invisible order, in which we hope to realise our
larger life, is a world which does not grow integrally in accordance with
the preconceived plan of a single architect, 'but piecemeal by the
contributions of its several parts.'[21] We make the world to our will,
and 'add our fiat to the fiat of the creator.' With regard to the
supreme question of human destiny Professor James's view is what he calls
'melioristic.' There is a striving for better things, but what the
ultimate outcome will be, no one can say. For the world is still in the
making. Life is a risk. It has many possibilities. Good and evil are
intermingled, and will continue so to be. It is a pluralistic world just
because the will of man is free, and predetermination is excluded. If
good was assured as the final goal of ill, and there was no sense of
venture, no possibility of loss or failure, then life would lack
interest, and moral effort would be shorn of reality and incentive.

In Professor James's philosophy of life there is much that is original
and stimulating, and it draws attention to facts of experience and modes
of thought which we were in danger of overlooking. It has compelled us
to consider the psychological bases of personality, and to lay more
stress upon the power of the will and individual choice in the
determining of character and destiny. It is pre-eminently {117} a
philosophy of action, and it emphasises an aspect of life which
intellectualism was prone to neglect--the function of personal endeavour
and initiative in the making of the world. It postulates the reality of
a living God who invites our co-operation, and it encourages our belief
in a higher spiritual order which it is within our power to achieve.

Pragmatism has hitherto made headway chiefly in America and Britain, but
on its activistic side it is akin to a new philosophical movement which
has appeared in France and Germany. The name generally given to this
tendency is 'Activism' or 'Vitalism'--a title chosen probably in order to
emphasise the self-activity of the personal consciousness directed
towards a world which it at once c