Columbia Naturalism and the Analytic Turn: Eclipse or Synthesis?

Historical reconstructions of the effects of the intellectual migration
are typically informed by one of two conflicting narratives. Some scholars argue
that the logical positivists contributed to the demise of distinctly American schools of thought. Others reject this “eclipse view” and argue that analytic philosophy can best be characterized as a synthesis of American and positivist views. This paper studies the fate of one of the most influential schools of U.S. philosophy—Columbia naturalism—and argues that both narratives are part of a larger story. First, I reconstruct the rise of the school, focusing on its naturalist analyses of science, morality, and religion. Next, I trace some of the naturalists’ contacts with German philosophers and show that they encountered a bifurcation between historical and scientific philosophy in their discussions. I argue that a similar distinction gradually infected debates between naturalists, eventually resulting in a split within the Columbia school itself. The historically-oriented naturalists were overshadowed by the analytic movement, while the science-minded naturalists incorporated the views of the émigrés, thereby developing the tradition in new directions.