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

Neste livro clássico, e altamente influente, William James, médico, psicólogo e filósofo norte-americano, considerado o pai do pragmatismo, nos traz, nessa que é tida como uma das obras filosóficas mais lidas do mundo, uma visão revolucionária sobre a religião e seus princípios filosóficos e psicológicos, na qual ele considerada as religiões como uma vivência interna e transformadora, e não apenas como uma crença na experiência alheia. Seus comentários sobre conversão, arrependimento, misticismo e santidade, e suas observações acerca de experiências religiosas verdadeiras, pessoais, dão embasamento a essa tese. Numa abordagem original, James nos traz os conceitos básicos do que viria a ser nomeado como Psicologia Transpessoal, restituindo à Psicologia o seu objetivo verdadeiro e último: experienciar o Real em nossas vidas.

As variedades da experiência religiosa

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

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time The Varieties of Religious Experience was an immediate bestseller upon its publication in June 1902. Reflecting the pluralistic views of psychologist turned philosopher William James, it posits that individual religious experiences, rather than the tenets of organized religions, form the backbone of religious life. James’s discussion of conversion, repentance, mysticism, and hope of reward and fears of punishment in the hereafter—as well as his observations on the religious experiences of such diverse thinkers as Voltaire, Emerson, Luther, and others—all support his thesis. Walter Houston Clark in Psychology Today deemed it “the most notable of all books in the field of the psychology of religion.”

"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

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