William James

1842-1910 · American · Pragmatism, Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Religion, Radical Empiricism, Psychology

Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

Brother of the novelist Henry James and son of a Swedenborgian theologian, William James grew up in a household of restless transatlantic intellectual energy — and nearly broke under it. A depressive crisis in his late twenties was resolved by a willful act: following Renouvier, he decided to believe in his own free will. That moment seeded his whole philosophy.

Topics William James addresses

• pragmatism
• the pragmatic theory of truth
• cash value of an idea
• the will to believe
• genuine option (live, forced, momentous)
• the ethics of belief
• radical empiricism
• pure experience
• relations as experienced
• the stream of consciousness
• the specious present
• the fringes of consciousness
• the four characters of consciousness
• the James-Lange theory of emotion
• pluralism vs monism
• the pluralistic universe
• the block universe
• critique of absolute idealism
• tough-minded vs tender-minded
• religious experience as empirical phenomenon
• the sick soul vs the healthy-minded
• mystical states
• the four marks of mystical experience
• the more

Questions to put to William James

Pragmatism and the Theory of Truth

• What do you mean by the pragmatic method?
• How does truth 'happen to an idea' in your view?
• What's the cash value of an idea?
• How do you respond to Russell's charge that your theory makes truth relative?
• Why isn't pragmatism just saying we can believe whatever works for us personally?

The Will to Believe and the Ethics of Belief

• What makes an option 'genuine' in your account?
• How do you defend the right to believe against Clifford's demand for evidence?
• Why isn't suspending judgment always the safest choice when evidence is unclear?
• How does the will to believe apply to religious faith specifically?
• What's the difference between your view and just believing what you want to be true?

The Stream of Consciousness and Psychology

• What do you mean by calling consciousness a stream rather than a chain?
• What are the four characters of consciousness?
• What's the fringe or halo around a thought?
• What is the specious present?
• How does your James-Lange theory explain emotion?
• Why did you spend so many years writing the Principles of Psychology?

Radical Empiricism and Pure Experience

• What is pure experience in your metaphysics?
• How are relations themselves experienced rather than inferred?
• What's the difference between your view and Hume's account of relations?
• How does radical empiricism avoid the mind-body dualism?
• Why do you call your empiricism 'radical'?

Pluralism Against the Absolute

• What do you mean by a concatenated universe?
• How is your pluralism different from saying reality is just disconnected atoms?
• What's wrong with the block universe of the absolute idealists?
• How do you respond to Royce and Bradley's arguments for the Absolute?
• Why does pluralism matter so much to you philosophically?

Religious Experience and the Varieties

• What's the difference between the sick soul and the healthy-minded?
• What are the four characteristics of mystical states?
• What is the 'more' that religious people encounter?
• How do you study religion empirically without either dismissing it or assuming theology in advance?
• What is piecemeal supernaturalism?
• How should I understand your own religious commitments in the Varieties?

Converse with William James on Simposeum. Replies are grounded in William James's own writing, cited to the page.