William James is my favorite philosopher. There is almost no view he holds that I agree with. ... Why do I love him? ... Simply put, the attraction of James the philosopher is that he is the best example I know of a person doing philosophy; there is no hiding the person behind the work, no way of discussing the work without the person, no way to make believe that there is a way to do philosophy that is not personal. ... He wanted and worked at a picture of the whole thing. - Owen FlanaganMost of the time, The Cambridge Companion to a philosopher offers articles that clarify the work of a great philosopher whose own prose is daunting (Kant, Hegel, Nietzche). William James is different because James' own writing is so inviting and seemingly clear. This companion shows how James' modern professional peers view his less rigorous approach.
The one word that best summarizes James' philosophy is pluralistic. He wants to account for the richness of human experience and emphasizes the many different ways we make sense of the world. In all of his philosophy, he focuses on the effects of ideas rather than on their origins.
If reality is not that economical and systematic universe that our logic likes to represent, if it is not sustained within an intellectual framework, truth of an intellectual order is a human invention the function of which is to utilize reality rather than introduce us to it. ... Reality does not form an ensemble, if it is multiple and mobile, composed of criss-crossing currents... - Henri Bergson
James' unflagging devotion to the ideals of plurality and tolerance is as relevant and inspiring as it was a century ago. - Ruth Anna PutnamFor many philosophers, it can be best to start with the secondary literature before attempting the original works. Not so for James. His own writing is the best introduction.
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