Henry James, Principled Realism :: Henry James

Henry James, Principled RealismI read a critical essay by Michael Kearns entitled, Henry James, Principled Realism, and the Practice of vital Reading. In it, Kearns invents the terms principled reality and nave reality and how to apply these perspectives when reading Washington Square. As Kearns explores these two types of realities, he states that the readers should take a emplacement of principled realism which he defines as follows principled realism, like pragmatism, is a method which holds that no objective truths or transcendentally privileged perspective loafer be found but that we can understand enough about a situation or event to be able to act responsibly towards all persons involved. We can achieve this, according to Kearns, by understanding that the characters are fully dimensional. We must look at their strong points, their positions on certain issues, and we faculty speculate what their downfall might be. Although Kearns thinks that we who read Washington Square w ith a principled realistic perspective should remain ethically neutral, he does urge that we overly become emotionally involved. He states Principled realism recognizes the importance of emotional as well as rational responses to the extent that readers come to care about the novels characters, they are in a position to perceive and share the fundamental ethical stance of Jamess fiction.On the other hand, Kearns defines his term nave realism as characteristic of someone who mistakenly elevates socially constructed and verbalized knowledge over the individual and inarticulate rather than accepting some(prenominal) as valuable. Kearns believes that Dr. Sloper and the narrator both practice nave realism and this, he contends, is dangerous thinking. He continues Slopers nave realism manifests itself in his belief that he can build a logical theory on factshe has reduced to propositions. Kearns implies that James creates fictional characters (such as Dr. Sloper) to help his readers form the correct ethical judgement about the novel. The doctor is so cold, so calculating, the readers naturally would want to take the opposing position. He is not the only one that Kearns believes uses nave realism. The narrator does as well as the history develops and Catherines experience expands, the narrator remains superior in particular, he grants the young woman no depth of inner life.