The two pragmatisms in the philosophy of Ivan Sarailiev

Abstract

This article focuses on the views held by the early Bulgarian representative and interpreter of pragmatism Ivan Sarailiev (1887–1969) on the two trends of this doctrine – the method for ascertaining meaning proposed by Charles Sanders Peirce, and the theory of truth propounded by William James. Sarailiev applied and propagated the pragmatist ideas of the doctrine’s founders in Bulgaria in the 1920s, and is thus one of the first followers of Peirce in Europe and the very first in Eastern Europe. How deep was Sarailiev’s understanding of the two types of pragmatism? How did they shape his philosophy and what was their role? This article will try to address these questions as well as presenting the overall reception of pragmatism in Bulgaria in the Interwar period through Sarailiev who was its only serious proponent both at the time and long afterwards.