Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking

by William James

Overview

What is “reality”? How do we test the value of any given philosophical system? Can philosophy be “useful”? Why must we reject the notion that there is one concrete “truth”? American psychologist and philosopher WILLIAM JAMES (1842–1910), brother of novelist Henry James, was a groundbreaking researcher at Harvard University, author of such works as Principles of Psychology (1890) and The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (1902), and one of the most influential academics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Here, over a series of eight lectures delivered at the Lowell Institute in Boston in late 1906 and at Columbia University in early 1907, he explores these questions as he discusses: • “The Present Dilemma in Philosophy” • “What Pragmatism Means” • “Some Metaphysical Problems Pragmatically Considered” • “The One and the Many” • “Pragmatism and Common Sense” • “Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth” • “Pragmatism and Humanism” • “Pragmatism and Religion”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605204352
Publisher:	Cosimo Classics
Publication date:	11/01/2008
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	1,111,854
Product dimensions:	5.84(w) x 8.89(h) x 0.71(d)

About the Author

William James (January 11, 1842 - August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist who was also trained as a physician. The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States, James was one of the leading thinkers of the late nineteenth century and is believed by many to be one of the most influential philosophers the United States has ever produced, while others have labeled him the "Father of American psychology".

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. The present dilemma in philosophy; 2. What pragmatism means; 3. Some metaphysical problems pragmatically considered; 4. The one and the many; 5. Pragmatism and common sense; 6. Pragmatism's conception of truth; 7. Pragmatism and humanism; 8. Pragmatism and religion; Index.