A comprehensive collection of writings by the legendary philosopher, whose sweeping body of work influenced our ideas about psychology, religion, free will, and pragmatism. In his introduction to this collection, John McDermott presents James's thinking in all its manifestations, stressing the importance of radical empiricism and placing into perspective the doctrines of pragmatism and the will to believe. The critical periods of James's life are highlighted to illuminate the development of his philosophical and psychological thought. The anthology features representative selections from The Principles of Psychology, The Will to Believe, and The Variety of Religious Experience in addition to the complete Essays in Radical Empiricism and A Pluralistic Universe. The original 1907 edition of Pragmatism is included, as well as classic selections from all of James's other major works. Of particular significance for James scholarship is the supplemented version of Ralph Barton Perry's Annotated Bibliography of the Writings of William James.

This book focuses on William James' philosophy as it relates to his conceptions of ordinary experience, the respective natures of self and the world, and the interrelations of these three things.

“A bold and provocative introduction to James’s philosophy that will be of interest to many scholars of American philosophy.” —Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society William James (1842–1910) is a canonical figure of American pragmatism. Trained as a medical doctor, James was more engaged by psychology and philosophy and wrote a foundational text, Pragmatism, for this characteristically American way of thinking. Distilling the main currents of James’s thought, William J. Gavin focuses on “latent” and “manifest” ideas in James to disclose the notion of “will to believe,” which courses through his work. For students who may be approaching James for the first time and for specialists who may not know James as deeply as they wish, Gavin provides a clear path to understanding James’s philosophy even as he embraces James’s complications and hesitations. “A concise and mostly effective sketch of James’ arc of thought, in which the theme of the impressive and engaging nature of James’ philosophical ‘outline’ is expressly tackled.” —Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews “Gavin’s book is meta-continuous, operating at more than one level at a time. Our responsibility is to take James seriously, and Gavin provides cogent reasons for doing so. William J. Gavin’s work continues to warrant the title ‘Jamesian.’” —The Pluralist “This praiseworthy volume presents a viewpoint on James that brings the novice reader into conversation and reminds the more experienced reader of the big-picture of James, of the zest and novelty of his vision.” —William James Studies

Hunter Brown shows that Henry James's views of religious experience do not in fact lapse into subjectivismor fideism that critics have accused him of but occasions hardships and self-sacrifice which James describes.

Brother of novelist Henry James, William James held views embodied in the tendency to subordinate logical proof to intuitive conviction. He was a vigorous antagonist of the idealistic school of Kant and Hegel, and an empiricist who made empiricism more radical by treating pure experience as the very substance of the world. Taking writings from The Principles of Psychology, Essays in Radical Empiricism and The Meaning of Truth amongst other publications, this edition offers a comprehensive selection of James's writings.

This book contains the papers of the Fourth Seminar in American Philosophy that was held in Winterthur, Switzerland, September 3-7, 1973. The subject of the seminar was the Philosophy of William James, which can be described as pragmatism. James himself understood by it »a new name for old ways of thinking« and put life, practice and action in the centre of his thinking – not the thinking itself as he regarded it as a »new« achievement in the development of mankind.