William James

"This book presents the philosophy of William James. In certain men, the personality and the work are inseparable, and James was one. He taught that a philosophy has its root in life, not in the collective or impersonal life of humanity, in his view the abstraction of the schools, but in the concrete life of the individual, the only life which really exists. James thought that philosophy, even in its boldest speculations, should maintain its bond with the soul of the thinker if it is not to degenerate into an empty assemblage of words and of concepts, devoid of all real content. After presenting an account of the life and personality of James, the author presents James's philosophy in 5 fields: psychology, religious psychology, pragmatism, metaphysical views, and pedagogy"--Introduction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).