The Two Cultures session was opened by Dr. James L. Wescoat who began with an introduction to the American Pragmatic philosophical tradition. He noted that the Pragmatic tradition would be deeply skeptical of ‘two’ cultures but open to the ‘many’. He then introduced the audience to the work of Gilbert White, the leading environmental geographer of the 20th century who demonstrated that the loss of life and resources in the United States as a result of flooding in the past years had increased in direct proportion to the amount spent by the government on flood control structuress. The problem was that the structural solutions provided by the government had resulted in altered perceptions of natural hazards in communities residing in flood prone areas. On the other hand, non-structural measures such as zoning and planning were ignored. The work of Gilbert White in analyzing and “expanding the range of choice” resulted in the development of an entirely new field of hazards research.

Dr. James explained that the Pragmatic approach looks at the problem in its context or in its environment and tries to explore as many disciplines as can be marshalled to address it. In doing so, it brings attention to those possibilities which were not previously under consideration.

Explaining the work of Pragmatist philosopher John Dewey, Dr. James explained that human beings often have a quest for certainty, and while they may be able to reduce some uncertainties, absolute certainty is impossible. We have to live with and adapt to some amount of risk. Dewey asserted that all life is environmentally precarious. Dr. James also highlighted that while the Pragmatic position underlies the work of Gilbert White it was not explicitly recognized by him, which sometimes limited his ability to respond to criticism and advance his research on a philosophical level.

Dr. James also discussed many other ideas related to Dewey, William James, Herbert Mead and their approaches to self, consciousness and the environment. In the second half of the session, he discussed the importance of water in the recognition and development of the human and environmental self. He highlighted that water has held a highly significant role in the development of human cultures. In the early stories of Abraham, Ishmael and Hagar, very small amounts of water have profound meanings.

The divisions of hot, cold, wet and dry in early practices of medicine too have a fundamentally role in diagnosis of illnesses, and also an in the analysis of personalities, highlighting yet another aspect of water in understanding the human self. In terms of human development over the lifecycle, the embryo grows in a completely fluid world and when the young infant begins to feed instinctually, its sustenance also comes in the form of liquids. The environmental conditions of the mother alter the prospects of the infant before they are even born. As humans grow up and move towards latter stages of their life, the water content in their bodies begins to decrease. Their bodies begin to 'dry up', And the elderly are often not aware that their body needs water. They begin to lose their sense of thirst, and in parallel with that they also cognitively begin to lose their sense of self. Many illnesses have their origin and development in water, and illness can play an important role in increasing the levels of self-knowledge and self-consciousness. Humans are not consciously aware of their physiologies until illnesses elicit them to explore, bringing more awareness. In terms of good water management that aims to reduce water-related disease, safeguard public health and self-flourishing, Dr. James praised the Orangi Pilot Project of Karachi as a great communal accomplishment.

On reflection, Dr. James also noted that Gilbert White, in a personal interaction, had identified his inspiration more in line with William James’s Varieties of Religious Experience than with Dewey. Dr Basit Koshul highlighted that Gilbert White’s lack of awareness regarding the philosophical underpinnings of his own work may be considered another example of a lack of awareness of the self.

The floor was then opened to questions from the audience. One of audience members noted the central role of water-self connection in Dr. James’s talk and asked whether losing a sense of thirst in a more general sense was indicative of losing one’s sense of self. Dr. James appreciated this connection which drew not on the physiological meaning of the word ‘thirst’ but on its wider cultural meanings. He agreed that thirst opens other dimensions to the self and in this context, mentioned one of the beatitudes “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” while in other cultural contexts thirst can be a metaphor for excessive desire. Another audience member asked about the Mughal use of water. Here Dr. James noted the famous ‘Baber Nama’ and the connection between water and risky situations of river crossings for the Mughal armies. On the positive side, the early Mughal kings made sitting areas with small water pools and streams nearby, which also served as territorial markings. For later rulers like Shah Jahan, the abundant waters of Kashmir inspired large water-based monuments, a prime example of which is the Shalamar Garden of Lahore, which was influenced by Shalimar Garden in Kashmir.

One audience member asked about connections between water availability and cultural personalities. Dr. James noted that while many scholars indeed highlight the relationship between environment and the development of self, it is not a deterministic relationship. Alternatives can be developed by and with communities to cater for water-related challenges they face. He nevertheless noted that many low-income communities living in the floodplains, who already have little access to contaminated shallow groundwater, may be treated like “encroachments” from a public policy standpoint and end up losing their dwellings and belongings. This happens quite often, and it is a good example of a problem that Gilbert White argued cries out for a need to “expand the range of choice.”

One questioner highlighted the importance of giving the right definition to water, not in a molecular sense but in the pragmatic terms of what water does. He noted that Pakistan has a vicious politics of water and public policy approaches are stuck in a utilitarian view, where in fact a far deeper dualism between materiality and spirit is involved. Dr. James noted that William James, one of the founders of Classical Pragmatism, used the term ‘stream of consciousness’ and ‘continuity of thought’. Dr. Basit added more to this point. He mentioned that for a pragmatist, water is what water does, and that water is what we do with water. William James may have been more influential in bringing in the spiritual component to the debate but Dewey is a more original resource to seeing the ‘spiritual’ as a faith in the ‘non-material’ public or civic dimension of nature, and this must also be a part of how we understand nature. The event concluded on this positive note.