Abstract
Thus far, the general thrust of the present interpretation of American philosophy has been one of emphasis on the context, on the situation, from which a particular philosophy arises. It remains to define the metaphysical stance involved in the thought of James and Dewey, as well as the relationship of consciousness to reality. We will first delineate James's notion of "radical empiricism" and "pure experience", and subsequently Dewey's portrayal of the relationship between "experience" and "nature". While it is fair to term the outlooks "naturalistic" as opposed to a transcendentalist perspective, we shall see that the naturalism advocated is extremely rich and multi-dimensional.