Pragmatism and Other Writings

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'.Introduction by Giles Gunn
Suggestions for Further Reading
A Note on the Texts
Pragmatism (1907)
Preface
Lecture I: The Present Dilemma in Philosophy
Lecture II: What Pragmatism Means
Lecture III: Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically Considered
Lecture IV: The One and the Many
Lecture V: Pragmatism and Common Sense
Lecture VI: Pragmatism's Conception of Truth
Lecture VII: Pragmatism and Humanism
Lecture VIII: Pragmatism and Religion

From The Meaning of Truth (1909)
Preface
The Tigers in India
Humanism and Truth
From Psychology: Briefer Course (1892)
The Stream of Consciousness

From The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)
Preface
The Will to Believe
Is Life Worth Living?
The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life

From Talks to Teachers on Psychology: And to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (1899)
II. On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings
III. What Makes a Life Significant
Miscellaneous Essays
Address at the Centenary of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1903)
A World of Pure Experience (1904)
Is Radical Empiricism Solipsistic? (1905)

Notes

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. Giles Gunn is Professor of English and of Global & International Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is author of 'Culture of Criticism and Criticism of Culture' and edited Early American Writing for Penguin.