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Title: Pragmatism by William James ISBN: 0-486-28270-8 Publisher: Dover Publications Pub. Date: 01 September, 1995 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $2.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.13 (15 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Essential to Understanding Contemporary Philosophies
Comment: I rate this work 5 stars because of its immense influence on today's common ways of thinking and its importance in understanding the rise of science and capitalism in America.
James challenges philosophers of all ilks to give us a net value to their systems; that is, how do they affect human life or make the world we know better or worse for us? James insists that no philosophy finally matters unless it impacts life in concrete terms. To lock down his philosophy he fashions a new model of truth, stating that whatever is beneficial is true.
There are huge problems here, e.g., the rise of the subjective. James doesn't specify to whom truth should be beneficial (humanity in general? Subjective selves?), so his theory leads to strange quandaries. It would be "true" for a sound-minded criminal on trial to plead insanity, and it would also be "true" for the prosecutor to charge guilt and sanity. Obviously, confusing "useful" and "true" is a category obfuscation. As well, morality would suffer on this view. If lying is useful then regarding lies as truths is fully permissible by James's line of thought.
Nevertheless, the book is important to read because so much of today's world is run in terms of the useful rather than the ideal or intrinsically good. That is why art is marginalized, morality compromised, and capital generating systems glorified. We need James's Pragmatism to understand ourselves today.
Rating: 5
Summary: For Spinoza Fans.
Comment: What follows is an example of the greatness of this book:
From Introduction by Bruce Kuklick to William James' Pragmatism.
James went on to apply the pragmatic method to the epistemological problem of truth. He would seek the meaning of 'true' by examining how the idea functioned in our lives. A belief was true, he said, if in the long run it worked for all of us, and guided us expeditiously through our semihospitable world. James was anxious to uncover what true beliefs amounted to in human life, what their "Cash Value" was, what consequences they led to. A belief was not a mental entity which somehow mysteriously corresponded to an external reality if the belief were true. Beliefs were ways of acting with reference to a precarious environment, and to say they were true was to say they guided us satisfactorily in this environment. In this sense the pragmatic theory of truth applied Darwinian ideas in philosophy; it made survival the test of intellectual as well as biological fitness. If what was true was what worked, then scientific truths were just those beliefs found to be workable. And we could investigate religion's claim to truth in the same manner. The enduring quality of religious beliefs throughout recorded history and in all cultures gave indirect support for the view that such beliefs worked. James also argued directly that such beliefs were satisfying; they enabled us to lead fuller, richer lives and were more viable than their alternatives. Religious beliefs were expedient in human existence, just as scientific beliefs were.
Rating: 4
Summary: Great Book at a Great Bargain
Comment: This series of popular lectures James gave in 1909 presents a very approachable introduction to James' thoughts about pragmatism. Though I am no fan of his philosophical views, I enjoy reading James, and this, especially the first couple lectures, is an enjoyable and short discussion of his ideas. The lecture format forces him to present his views in very digestible sections. James, however, is the master of the understatement; what he says is clear enough, but you may want a secondary source to see the real implications of his views. Kudos to Dover for a great selection for their thrift series!
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Title: The Meaning of Truth by William James ISBN: 1573921386 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE by William James ISBN: 0684842971 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1997 List Price(USD): $8.00 |
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Title: The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy: Human Immortality by William James ISBN: 0486202917 Publisher: Dover Publications Pub. Date: 01 June, 1956 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Principles of Psychology (Volume 1) by William James ISBN: 0486203816 Publisher: Dover Publications Pub. Date: 01 June, 1955 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: Pragmatism: A Reader by Louis Menand ISBN: 0679775447 Publisher: Vintage Books USA Pub. Date: 01 October, 1997 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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