William James’ notion of pragmatism is an evident theme throughout The Truman Show. Pragmatism is defined as the theory of meaning, often rooted in consequences (p. 29). James explains that an idea’s meaning is rooted in its consequences, and therefore, ideas must work. James continues to explain this theory by writing that an idea’s truth is contingent upon its usefulness. This can be related to The Truman Show because Truman believes in his reality due to its usefulness. All of his actions have real consequences, so he has no grounds to argue that his reality is synthetic. All of the claims made by the actors on the show convince Truman that his life is just as real as anyone else’s. The ideas portrayed to Truman work so well that Truman must believe they are true. Just as James explains, truth happens to an idea; it is made through events (James 92).

It is not until later on in the movie that Truman discovers his reality has been created through lies and deceit. This also reflects James’ theory of pragmatism. After Truman begins to notice the way his friends and family act, he calls into question the truth of the events. He follows around several of the actors to further investigate, and finds directors, fake elevators, and falling lights from the sky. This means that the idea of a fake reality must be true to Truman. The events caused Truman to assert truth to his assumptions.

James also writes about how there is no such thing as the ‘knower’ and the ‘known’. Instead, there is only the ‘perceiver’ and the ‘perceived’. Therefore, it is not as though Truman knows anything about his life, he only perceives the outside world around him. He could never have been certain about his reality, because that would imply that he knew everything about his world. It is as if the actors partaking in The Truman Show are the knowers and Truman is the sole perceiver. This corresponds to James’ Theory of Truth, which states that the knower only needs to discover the external world. However, this could only be true if one could observe nature from outside of his or her perspective. Truman does not have the ability to leave his own perception of the world to look beyond Seahaven Island. Due to this reality, Truman does not have the capacity to know anything for sure about his external world. Although he does not realize this problem, it becomes apparent once he notices changes in his environment.

In some ways, Truman embodies James’ description of an empiricist. An empiricist is characterized as a lover of facts, and one that starts with several small facts and builds them up into one main idea. For instance, Truman slowly finds several examples of his reality crumbling in front of his eyes. He notices his wife’s incredibly structured schedule, his inability to leave the island, and his dad being ‘resurrected’ from the dead. These small facts cause Truman to begin to doubt his reality. Sylvia had also planted a seed of doubt in his mind by trying to expose Christof and the television show in its entirety. This led Truman to build all of these facts together to reach the conclusion that he must leave Seahaven, for it is not a true form of reality.

Christina Dell’Orto