Who Missed Class in Prophesy?: Pragmatism as Blameworthy

West’s description of pragmatism in Prophesy! functions as an invitation to dialogue about the propriety of sources for revolution. Many readers of Prophesy! view pragmatism as an unnecessary source if it merely claims to provide one with an option to obtain freedom, self-referentially. What good is freedom if the government or the church cannot provide individual protections for black persons who profess to be free? Stipulating pragmatism as an ethical tradition was premature. West ends his genealogy in Evasion with an appreciation of “the black church”. Prophesy! would benefit from such a narration of non-religious sources. West’s genealogy in Evasion exhibits what it means to narrate an intellectual history of American philosophy as if the black church could conclude one such narrative. For the preceding reasons, this paper argues that the account of pragmatism in Propheshy! is to blame for constructive theorists missing the importance of class analysis in Prophesy!