A compelling collection of the life-changing writings of William James William James--psychologist, philosopher, and spiritual seeker--is one of those rare writers who can speak directly and powerfully to anyone about life's meaning and worth, and whose ideas change not only how people think but how they live. The thinker who helped found the philosophy of pragmatism and inspire Alcoholics Anonymous, James famously asked, "is life worth living?" Bringing together many of his best and most popular essays, talks, and other writings, this anthology presents James's answer to that and other existential questions, in his own unique manner--caring, humorous, eloquent, incisive, humble, and forever on the trail of the "ever not quite." Here we meet a James perfectly attuned to the concerns of today--one who argues for human freedom, articulates a healthy-minded psychology, urges us to explore the stream of consciousness, presents a new definition of truth based on its practical consequences, and never forecloses the possibility of mystical transcendence. Introduced by John Kaag and Jonathan van Belle, these compelling and accessible selections reveal why James is one of the great guides to the business of living. Product DetailsISBN-13: 9780691240152 Media Type: Hardcover Publisher: Princeton University Press Publication Date: 01-10-2023 Pages: 392 Product Dimensions: 5.30(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)About the Author John Kaag is the Donohue Professor of Ethics and the Arts at UMass Lowell, External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute, and the author of Sick Souls, Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life (Princeton), American Philosophy: A Love Story, and Hiking with Nietzsche: On Becoming Who You Are. Jonathan van Belle is an independent scholar and former philosophy editor at Outlier.org. Kaag and van Belle are also the authors of Henry at Work: Thoreau on Making a Living (Princeton).What People are Saying What People are Saying About This From the Publisher “Want to get to know William James, America’s most-beloved—and perhaps most widely influential—philosopher? This wonderful collection gives us James at his best—provocative, lyrical, inspirational. Whether you are meeting James in an easy chair, in a classroom, or on a ‘ramble,’ as James called the mountain hikes he loved, the encounter will leave you richly rewarded.”—James T. Kloppenberg, Harvard University “A great collection that lets readers experience James’s philosophy as epistemological tonic, moral orientation, and spiritual regeneration. The brief introductions to the individual selections are compelling and written in sparkling prose.”—Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, author of The Ideas That Made America Table of Contents Table of Contents Introduction 1 Determinism and Despair 1 Letter to Thomas Wren Ward (1868) 25 2 "The Sick Soul," from The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) 35 3 "The Dilemma of Determinism" (1897) 53 Freedom and Life 4 "The Will to Believe" (1897) 77 5 "Is Life Worth Living?" (1897) 110 Psychology and the Healthy Mind 6 "What Makes a Life Significant" (1900) 141 7 Chapter IX, "The Stream of Thought," and Chapter X, "The Consciousness of Self," from The Principles of Psychology (1890) 160 8 "The Energies of Men" (1907) 208 Consciousness and Transcendence 9 A Review of Benjamin Paul Blood's The Anesthetic Revelation and the Gist of Philosophy (1874) 235 10 "On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings" (1899) 242 Truth and Consequences 11 "What Pragmatism Means" (1903) 265 12 "The Moral Equivalent of War" (1903) 282 Wonder and Hope 13 "Mysticism," from The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) 301 14 "Human Immortality: Two Supposed Objections to the Doctrine" (1897) 326 15 "A Pluralistic Mystic" (1910) 338 Index 369 Show More