William James

One of the greatest classics of modern Western literature and science and the source of the ripest thoughts of America's most important philosopher.

The Principles of Psychology

Noted psychologist and philosopher develops his own brand of pragmatism, based on theories of C. S. Peirce. Emphasis on "radical empiricism," versus the transcendental and rationalist tradition. One of the most important books in American philosophy. Note.

Pragmatism

This collection defining documents from one of America's most influential thinkers presents Pragmatism in its entirety, James's seminal set of lectures in which he argues in his witty and limpid style for the "reasonableness of ordinary experience." Also gathered here are selections from James's other formative works, including The Meaning of Truth, Psychology, The Will to Believe, and Talks to Teachers on Psychology.

A Study in Human Nature

The Varieties of Religious Experience

The writings of William James represent one of America's most original contributions to the history of ideas. Ranging from philosophy and psychology to religion and politics, James composed the most engaging formulation of American pragmatism. 'Pragmatism' grew out of a set of lectures and the full text is included here along with 'The Meaning of Truth', 'Psychology', 'The Will to Believe', and 'Talks to Teachers on Psychology'.

Pragmatism and Other Writings

This volume contains the complete texts of two books by America's most important psychologist and philosopher. Easy to understand, yet brilliant and penetrating, the books were written specifically for laymen and they are still stimulating reading for readers concerned with important questions of belief in an age of science. In the essays, under the heading The Will to Believe, James discusses, first, the interrelationships of belief, will, and intellect, examining such questions as: How does man believe? How do intellectual considerations color belief? How much of a role do irrational elements play even in rigorously logical thought? Chance versus determinism, free will versus fate, pluralism versus monism are discussed in succeeding sections. James also covers psychical research, Hegelianism, and Spencer's philosophy. Human Immortality: Two Supposed Objections to the Doctrine, reprinted here from the corrected second edition, examines the questions of survival after death, and provides an unusual philosophical rebuttal to the theory that thought and personality necessarily die with the brain.

The Will to Believe and Human Immortality

"Written in a rich, vivid style, the Briefer Course examines a wide range of topics: the importance and physical basis of habit; stream of consciousness ( a frame coined by James); self and the sense of personal identity; discrimination and association; the sense of time; memory; perception; imagination; reasoning; emotions compared to instincts; the will and voluntary acts; and a host of other subjects. (The book's long-outdated first nine chapters, dealing with such sensory processes as vision, hearing, and touch, have been omitted from this edition.) An enormous amount of what James wrote in the fledging days of psychology is still true, relevant, and thought-provoking today." -- Back cover.

The Briefer Course

Psychology

بعض مشكلات الفلسفة

Ignas K. Skrupskelis

In May 1908 William James, a gifted and popular lecturer, delivered a series of eight Hibbert lectures at Manchester College, Oxford, on "The Present Situation in Philosophy." These were published a year later as A Pluralistic Universe. During the preceding decade James, as he struggled with deep conflicts within his own philosophic development, had become increasingly preoccupied with epistemological and metaphysical issues. He saw serious inadequacies in the forms of absolute and monistic idealism dominant in England and the United States, and he used the lectures to attack the specific form that "vicious intellectualism" had taken. In A Pluralistic Universe James captures a new philosophic vision, at once intimate and realistic. He shares with his readers a view of the universe that is fresh, active, and novel. The message conveyed is as relevant today as it was in his time. Supervised by a team of scholars, each a specialist in his field, The Works of William James fills the long-standing need for an authoritative, standard edition of the philosopher's works. The General Editor and supervisor of the project is Frederick Burkhardt. Mr. Burkhardt, formerly a professor of philosophy and then a college president, is President Emeritus of the American Council of Learned Societies. The Textual Editor, Fredson Bowers, Linden Kent Professor of English at the University of Virginia, is in charge of the establishment of the text and its production according to standards of the Center for Editions of American Authors. Gold Medalist of the Bibliographical Society, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and Corresponding Fellow of The British Academy, Mr. Bowers is the author of two books on the theory and practice of textual criticism and editor of several multivolume critical editions. Ignas K. Skrupskelis, the Associate Editor, contributes the substantive notes. He is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina and has conducted extensive research in the James collection.

A Pluralistic Universe

This rare book contains an introduction to William James’s ideas of philosophical pragmatism. Written in the highly readable and enjoyable style James is renowned for, this book will appeal not only to philosophy enthusiasts, but also to anyone in love with the possibilities of English prose. This fascinating book elucidates the reasons why students of philosophy are still reading his ideas a century after the lectures that comprise this work were delivered. Comprised of eight lectures given in Boston and New York in 1906 and 1907, this book provides a great summary of some of James’s most important philosophical ideas and constitutes a must-read for anyone interested in this great philosopher’s work. This book was originally published in 1907 and is proudly republished here with a new prefatory biography of its author. William James was an American psychologist and philosopher, hailed as the ‘father of American psychology’. His other notable works include: Principles of Psychology (1890) and The Meaning of Truth (1909).

Pragmatism - A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking

Great Men and Their Environment

Habit

Pragmatism William James - The word pragmatism is used everywhere today, from business to sports to politics. Although the word hadn't yet entered everyday language when William James published "Pragmatism" in 1907, the philosopher believed its doctrine had virtually become common sense in twentieth-century America. For James, pragmatism was a specific philosophical alternative to essentialism and foundationalism and argued that ideas are meaningful only insofar as they have practical consequences in concrete human experience; however today pragmatism has come to denote merely a general willingness to compromise principles, even to the point of selfishness or irresponsibility. Written in an engaging and accessible style, "Pragmatism" is a valuable corrective to modern uses of the word, since the voice that speaks in its pages embodies precisely the opposite values from the pejorative semes the word has acquired.

The Will to Believe

In this sequel to Pragmatism, one of America's outstanding philosophers, William James (1842-1910), responds to absolutist critics - believers in immutable truth and innate or inherited knowledge - who misrepresent the philosophy of pragmatism as just another form of positivism or regard it as mere egoistic solipsism. Objective truth exists, James argues, but it can be known only in terms of experience; truth isn't "out there" waiting to be discovered. And knowledge derives from a process of inquiry in which a chain of mental and physical intermediates connects thought and things.

The Meaning of Truth

THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE - A Study in Human Nature

"William James is a towering figure in the history of American thought--without doubt the foremost psychologist this country has produced. His depiction of mental life is faithful, vital, and subtle. In verve, he has no equal. . . . "There is a sharp contrast between the expanding horizon of James and the constricting horizon of much contemporary psychology. The one opens doors to discovery, the other closes them. Much psychology today is written in terms of reaction, little in terms of becoming. James would say that a balance is needed, but that only by assuming that man has the capacity for growth are we likely to discover the scope of this same capacity." --from the introduction by Gordon W. Allport

The Varieties of Religious Experience / Pragmatism / A Pluralistic Universe / The Meaning of Truth / Some Problems of Philosophy / Essays (Library of America)

William James : Writings 1902-1910 

William James, a member of America's most illustrious intellectual family, is widely acclaimed as the country's foremost philosopher, the first of its psychologists, and a champion of religious pluralism. As the apostle of pragmatism, his influence on American thought is as strong now as it has ever been. James's emphasis on the creative power of faith, will, and action, his opening up of philosophy to the fresh air of ordinary experience, his fascination with alternative forms of belief and states of consciousness, and his impatience with dogmas of any kind--all make him a defender of individual experience, and earn him a place beside Emerson and Whitman as an exponent of American democratic culture. In this volume are the brilliant, engagingly written works of James's early and middle years. The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy advances the liberating argument that each of us has the right to believe in hypotheses that are not susceptible to proof and that such beliefs might actually change the world. The conversational style of these essays reflects their origin in public lectures, as well as James's conviction that truth can be discovered as much in the course of everyday life as in the activities of science or of philosophical speculation. Talks to Teachers and to Students, also drawn from lectures, helped transform the emerging science of education. Here James applies his new psychology to classroom theory and conduct, especially for the primary grades. This immensely influential book has never gone out of print. It emphasizes the role in learning of instinct, play, and habit, along with the importance of engaging the voluntary interests of students. James's warm and sympathetic nature informs his treatment of children, who can best be taught by those who respect the child's autonomy and who avoid what he calls "hammering in." Psychology: Briefer Course is far more than a shortened version of his monumental Principles of Psychology. It significantly revises parts of the earlier work and adds important new materials. (Students liked to call the longer book "James" and the shorter one "Jimmy".) James's new psychology moved away from discussions of the soul, morality, and logic, and focused instead on instinct, will, and the importance of action and habit. Passages comparing human consciousness to "a wonderful stream" inspired the "stream of consciousness" in the future work of Joyce, Woolf, and Gertrude Stein, a student of James's at Harvard. "Human Immortality," which defends the possibility of life after death, and eight more of James's most important essays round out this second volume devoted to a writer who was called by John Dewey "almost a Columbus of the inner world."

William James

About

Books

Join the club