Pragmatism is the most important distinctively American contribution to contemporary philosophy. The roots of the tradition go back to the work of C. S. Peirce, William James and John Dewey. In contemporary philosophy the pragmatic spirit has flowered in the work of W. V. O. Quine, Donald Davidson, Hilary Putnam and Richard Rorty. The word ‘pragmatism’ was introduced into philosophical literature in William James’ lecture to G. H. Howison’s Berkeley Philosophical Union in 1898, although James himself sees its origin in C. S. Peirce’s lecture entitled How to make our ideas clear.