Perry Ralph Barton (1876–1957), American philosopher who taught at Harvard University and wrote extensively in ethics, social philosophy, and the theory of knowledge. He received a Pulitzer Prize in 1936 for The Thought and Character of William James, a biography of his teacher and colleague. Perry’s other major works include: The Moral Economy (1909), General Theory of Value (1926), Puritanism and Democracy (1944), and Realms of Value (1954). He is perhaps best known for his views on value. He writes in General Theory of Value, ‘Any object, whatever it be, acquires value when any interest, whatever it be, is taken in it; just as anything whatsoever becomes a target when anyone whosoever aims at it.’ Something’s having value is nothing but its being the object of some interest, and to know whether it has value one need only know whether it is the object of someone’s interest. Morality aims at the promotion of the moral good, which he defines as ‘harmonious happiness.’ This consists in the reconciliation, harmonizing, and fulfillment of all interests.
Perry’s epistemological and metaphysical views were part of a revolt against idealism and dualism. Along with five other philosophers, he wrote The New Realism (1912). The ‘New Realists’ held that the objects of perception and memory are directly presented to consciousness and are just what they appear to be; nothing intervenes between the knower and the external world. The view that the objects of perception and memory are presented by means of ideas leads, they argued, to idealism, skepticism, and absurdity. Perry is also known for having developed, along with E. B. Holt, the ‘specific response’ theory, which is an attempt to construe belief and perception in terms of bodily adjustment and behavior.
See also NEW REALISM , VALUE. N.M.L.