While applauding these Babbittian ideas, I have argued in various places that Babbitt unduly discounts reason’s contribution to the search for reality. In his article Professor Weinstein defends him, speculating that, in assigning to reason not just the pragmatic-analytical function that Babbitt acknowledges, I may be hankering for “a special ends-conferring reason” and perhaps even “metaphysics.” Weinstein expresses this reservation in a tentative and exploratory manner and in an article with whose general aim I am in hearty sympathy. I seize the opportunity nevertheless to air an epistemological issue that is important not only for Babbitt studies but for a much-needed philosophical renewal.
