Staff Pick
Are you curious about the psychology of conversions? Looking for a defense of spiritual or metaphysical pluralism? Do you consider yourself more or less an empiricist? Read this book. William James, philosopher and psychologist, writes in rigorous and vigorous prose while masterfully mixing psychology, history, religious anthropology, and more into one of the few truly open-hearted and welcoming works of modern philosophy. Recommended By Jonathan V. B., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
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.
Synopsis
Marked by a rare combination of penetrating thought and virtuosic style, 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. This collection 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. Throughout these essays the fecund power of imagination is restored to the operations of rationality by James, whom George Santayana hailed as "an impulsive poet: a master in the art of recording or divining the lyric quality of experience."
About the Author
Older brother of novelist Henry James,
William James (1842-1910) was a philosopher, psychologist, physiologist, and professor at Harvard. James has influenced such twentieth-century thinkers as Richard Rorty, Jurgen Habermans, Michel Foucault, and Julia Kristeva.
Martin Marty, one of today’s most respected theologians, is professor emeritus at the University of Chicago, where the Martin Marty Center has been founded to promote public religion endeavors. His more than fifty books include Modern American Religion. He is a winner of the National Book Award and was the first religion scholar to receive the National Humanities Medal.
Table of Contents
Introduction by Martin E. Marty Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Text The Varieties of Religious Experience