The Cambridge Companion to William James

The most convenient and accessible guide to James currently available.

Ruth Anna Putnam (Edited by)

9780521459068, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 April 1997

424 pages
22.6 x 15.1 x 2.6 cm, 0.56 kg

"All these essays...are lively and insightful. This is a volume which will be immensely helpful to both specialists and nonspecialists alike." Walter Ludwig, Review of Metaphysics

William James (1842–1910) was both a philosopher and a psychologist, nowadays most closely associated with the pragmatic theory of truth. The essays in this Companion deal with the full range of his thought as well as other issues, including technical philosophical issues, religious speculation, moral philosophy and political controversies of his time. The relationship between James and other philosophers of his time, as well as his brother Henry, are also examined. By placing James in his intellectual landscape the volume will be particularly useful to teachers and students outside philosophy in such areas as religious studies, history of ideas, and American studies. New readers and nonspecialists will find this the most convenient and accessible guide to James currently available. Advanced students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of James.

1. Pragmatism and iIntrospective psychology Gerald E. Myers
2. Consciousness as a pragmatist views it Owen Flanagan
3. John Dewey's naturalization of William James Richard M. Gale
4. James, Clifford, and the scientific conscience David A. Hollinger
5. Religious faith, intellectual responsibility, and romance Richard Rorty
6. The breathtaking intimacy of the material world: William James's last thoughts Bruce Wilshire
7. James, aboutness, and his British critics T. L. S. Sprigge
8. Logical principles and philosophical attitudes: Peirce's response to James's pragmatism Christopher Hookway
9. James's theory of truth Hilary Putnam
10. The James/Royce dispute and the development of James's 'solution' James Conant
11. William James on religious experience Richard R. Niebuhr
12. Interpreting the universe after a social analogy: intimacy, panpsychism, a finite God in a pluralistic universe David C. Lamberth
13. Moral philosophy and the development of morality Graham H. Bird
14. Some of life's ideals Ruth Anna Putnam
15. A shelter of the mind: Henry, William, and the domestic scene Jessica R. Feldman
16. The influence of William James on American culture Ross Posnock
17. Pragmatism, politics, and the corridor Harvey J. Cormier
18. James and the Kantian tradition Thomas Carlson.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: c 1600 to c 1900 [HPCD]