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William James (1842-1910) was one of the most original and influential American thinkers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As a professor at Harvard University he published many works that had a wide-ranging impact on both psychology and philosophy. His Principles of Psychology was the most important English-language work on the mind since Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding. His Varieties of Religious Experience practically inaugurated the field of psychology of religion, and it also remains a major inspiration for philosophy of religion. Perhaps most importantly, James publicized the movement of pragmatism and supplied much of its powerful momentum. This book covers the primary topics for which James is still closely studied: the nature of experience; the functions of the mind; the criteria for knowledge; the definition of "truth"; the ethical life; and the religious life. His notable terms, still resonating in their respective fields, are all here, from the "stream of consciousness" and "pure experience" to the "will to believe," the "cash-value of truth," and the distinction between the religiously "healthy soul" and the "sick soul." This volume's eighteen selections receive the bulk of the attention and citation from scholars, provide excellent coverage of core topics, and have a broad appeal across many academic disciplines. This well-organized compilation of James's important writings offers an exciting and fascinating tour for both the casual reader and the dedicated student interested in philosophy, psychology, religious studies, American studies, or any related field.
William James was the older brother of novelist Henry James, and a pioneering psychologist and philosopher. His works pushed the boundaries of psychology and helped shape the direction the field would grow in. Collected here are four of his most important books: Essays in Radical Empiricism, The Meaning of Truth, The Varieties of Religious Experience, and What is an Emotion? These books helped forge a field and remain as important today as when they were first written!
A comprehensive collection of writings by the legendary philosopher, whose sweeping body of work influenced our ideas about psychology, religion, free will, and pragmatism. In his introduction to this collection, John McDermott presents James's thinking in all its manifestations, stressing the importance of radical empiricism and placing into perspective the doctrines of pragmatism and the will to believe. The critical periods of James's life are highlighted to illuminate the development of his philosophical and psychological thought. The anthology features representative selections from The Principles of Psychology, The Will to Believe, and The Variety of Religious Experience in addition to the complete Essays in Radical Empiricism and A Pluralistic Universe. The original 1907 edition of Pragmatism is included, as well as classic selections from all of James's other major works. Of particular significance for James scholarship is the supplemented version of Ralph Barton Perry's Annotated Bibliography of the Writings of William James.
James believed that philosophy was meant to articulate, and help answer, a single existential question, one which lent itself to the title of one of his most famous essays: "Is life worth living?" Through examination of an array of existentially loaded topics covered in his works-truth, God, evil, suffering, death, and the meaning of life-James concluded that it is up to us to make life worth living. He said that our beliefs, the truths that guide our lives, matter-their value and veracity turn on the way they play out practically for ourselves and our communities. For James, philosophy was about making life meaningful, and for some of us, liveable. This is the core of his "pragmatic maxim," that truth should be judged on the bases of its practical consequences. Kaag shows how James put this maxim into use in his philosophy and his life and how we can do so in our own. .
The definitive biography of the fascinating William James, whose life and writing put an indelible stamp on psychology, philosophy, teaching, and religion—on modernism itself. Often cited as the “father of American psychology,” William James was an intellectual luminary who made significant contributions to at least five fields: psychology, philosophy, religious studies, teaching, and literature. A member of one of the most unusual and notable of American families, James struggled to achieve greatness amid the brilliance of his theologian father; his brother, the novelist Henry James; and his sister, Alice James. After studying medicine, he ultimately realized that his true interests lay in philosophy and psychology, a choice that guided his storied career at Harvard, where he taught some of America’s greatest minds. But it is James’s contributions to intellectual study that reveal the true complexity of man. In this biography that seeks to understand James’s life through his work—including Principles of Psychology, The Varieties of Religious Experience, and Pragmatism—Robert D. Richardson has crafted an exceptionally insightful work that explores the mind of a genius, resulting in “a gripping and often inspiring story of intellectual and spiritual adventure” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). “A magnificent biography.” —The Washington Post
Classic text examines habit, consciousness, self, discrimination, the sense of time, memory, perception, imagination, reasoning, instincts, volition, much more. This edition omits the outdated first nine chapters.
William James Remembered brings together reminiscences of James by family members, friends, and prominent intellectuals. The result is a many-sided portrait of a man who, besides playing a crucial role in American life during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, remains an animating spirit in our own time. The contributors include some of the people who knew James best. His brother, the novelist Henry James, opens the volume with a recollection of William at age seventeen, during one of their trips to Europe. Josiah Royce, George Santayana, and Ralph Barton Perry are among the faculty members of turn-of-the-century Harvard University who offer vivid portraits of their colleague. Memoirs by James's students reveal his pronounced unconventionality and his inspiring presence. Personal friends such as social reformer Josephine Goldmark and physician James Jackson Putnam provide insights into James's private life.
Susy Smith insists she did not write this book. The author of twenty-four works on psychical phenomena is sure the information herein could not have originated within her own subconscious mind because it includes so much about which she could not possibly have any knowledge. She maintains instead that it came to her via automatic writing from a man who says he has been in the spirit world for more than sixty years. Having started her research in the psychical field some twetny years ago as a cynical, agnostic newspaperperson, Susy Smith fought against a belief in the possibility of spirit communication all during the time she was studying and researching the subject. Now, after publicaion of all her books—which include Life Is Forever, ESP and Hypnosis, How to Develop Your ESP, and Confessional of a Psychic, in which she tells of her own gradual psychical development—she admits to having become convinced of the survival of the human soul on the basis of evidence alone. Life is Forever gives case histories which have helped persuade her of this. The Book of James, however, does not bring evidence. It supplies a philosophy of life after death. Whoever wrote it … it is inspiring and challenging reading.
Ultimately, Young William James Thinking reveals how James provided a humane vision well suited to our pluralist age.
This collection of 216 letters offers an accessible, single-volume distillation of the exchange between celebrated brothers William and Henry James. Spanning more than fifty years, their correspondence presents a lively account of the persons, places, and events that affected the Euro-American world from 1861 until the death of William James in August 1910. An engaging introduction by John J. McDermott suggests the significance of the Selected Letters for the study of the entire family.