Pragmatism and Other Writings

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Penguin, 2000 M04 1 - 400 pages
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'.
 

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Contents

Preface
5
The Present Dilemma in Philosophy
7
What Pragmatism Means
24
Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically Considered
41
The One and the Many
58
Pragmatism and Common Sense
74
Pragmatisms Conception of Truth
87
Pragmatism and Humanism
105
AND OTHER ESSAYS IN POPULAR PHILOSOPHY 1897
191
Preface
193
The Will to Believe
198
Is Life Worth Living?
219
The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life
242
AND TO STUDENTS ON SOME OF LIFES IDEALS 1899
265
On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings
267
What Makes a Life Significant
286

Pragmatism and Religion
119
From THE MEANING OF TRUTH 1909
133
Preface
135
The Tigers in India
142
Humanism and Truth
146
BRIEFER COURSE 1892
169
The Stream of Consciousness
171
MISCELLANEOUS ESSAYS
305
Address at the Centenary of Ralph Waldo Emerson 1903
307
A World of Pure Experience 1904
314
Is Radical Empiricism Solipsistic? 1905
337
Notes
341
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About the author (2000)

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.

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