- 656 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
About this book
The definitive biography of the fascinating William James, whose life and writing put an indelible stamp on psychology, philosophy, teaching, and religion—on modernism itself.
Often cited as the "father of American psychology," William James was an intellectual luminary who made significant contributions to at least five fields: psychology, philosophy, religious studies, teaching, and literature.
A member of one of the most unusual and notable of American families, James struggled to achieve greatness amid the brilliance of his theologian father; his brother, the novelist Henry James; and his sister, Alice James. After studying medicine, he ultimately realized that his true interests lay in philosophy and psychology, a choice that guided his storied career at Harvard, where he taught some of America's greatest minds. But it is James's contributions to intellectual study that reveal the true complexity of man.
In this biography that seeks to understand James's life through his work—including Principles of Psychology, The Varieties of Religious Experience, and Pragmatism—Robert D. Richardson has crafted an exceptionally insightful work that explores the mind of a genius, resulting in "a gripping and often inspiring story of intellectual and spiritual adventure" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review).
"A magnificent biography." — The Washington Post
Often cited as the "father of American psychology," William James was an intellectual luminary who made significant contributions to at least five fields: psychology, philosophy, religious studies, teaching, and literature.
A member of one of the most unusual and notable of American families, James struggled to achieve greatness amid the brilliance of his theologian father; his brother, the novelist Henry James; and his sister, Alice James. After studying medicine, he ultimately realized that his true interests lay in philosophy and psychology, a choice that guided his storied career at Harvard, where he taught some of America's greatest minds. But it is James's contributions to intellectual study that reveal the true complexity of man.
In this biography that seeks to understand James's life through his work—including Principles of Psychology, The Varieties of Religious Experience, and Pragmatism—Robert D. Richardson has crafted an exceptionally insightful work that explores the mind of a genius, resulting in "a gripping and often inspiring story of intellectual and spiritual adventure" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review).
"A magnificent biography." — The Washington Post
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Yes, you can access William James by Robert D. Richardson in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Social Sciences & Education Biographies. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
Information
Table of contents
- Title Page
- Contents
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Preface
- Prologue
- I. GROWING UP ZIGZAG
- 1. Art Is My Vocation
- 2. Growing Up Zigzag
- 3. Newport and the Jameses
- 4. The Father
- 5. Newport and the Jameses, Continued
- 6. Harvard, 1861
- 7. Science and the Civil War
- 8. Comparative Anatomy and Medical School
- 9. The Gulls at the Mouth of the Amazon
- 10. Tea Squalls and a Life According to Nature
- 11. We Must Be Our Own Providence
- 12. A Dead and Drifting Life
- 13. Minnie Temple
- 14. William James, M.D.
- 15. Treading Water
- 16. The End of Youth
- II. THE ACTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS
- 17. Hitting Bottom
- 18. The Turn to Physiology
- 19. The Metaphysical Club and Chauncey Wright
- 20. Charles Peirce
- 21. Cambridge and Harvard, 1872
- 22. Teaching
- 23. To Europe and Back
- 24. Emerson, Mill, and Blood
- 25. From Physiology to Physiological Psychology
- 26. Days of Rapture and Heartbreak
- 27. The Trouble with Herbert Spencer
- 28. The Action of Consciousness
- III. THE PRINCIPIES OF PSYCHOLOGY
- 29. Spaces
- 30. The Heart Wants Its Chance
- 31. The Feeling of Effort
- 32. Hegel in Cambridge
- 33. Death of a Mother
- 34. Goodbye, My Sacred Old Father
- 35. The Wonderful Stream of Our Consciousness
- 36. Not a Simple Temperament
- 37. What Is an Emotion?
- 38. The Literary Remains of Henry James Sr.
- 39. The Death of Herman
- 40. Mrs. Piper
- 41. My Only Absolutely Satisfying Companion
- 42. Hypnotism and Summers at Chocorua
- 43. Instinct and Will
- 44. Santayana at Harvard
- 45. The Psychology of Belief
- 46. Reunion with Alice: The Hidden Self
- IV. THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
- 47. Response to Principles and the Moral Philosopher
- 48. Flooded by the Deep Life
- 49. The Death of Alice James
- 50. European Sabbatical
- 51. Abnormal Psych 1
- 52. Talks to Teachers
- 53. Abnormal Psych 2
- 54. Sarah, Rosina, and Pauline
- 55. Is Life Worth Living?
- 56. The Gospel of Relaxation
- 57. The Right to Believe
- 58. High Tide
- 59. Walpurgisnacht
- 60. California
- 61. A Certain Blindness
- 62. The Logic of the Absolute
- 63. Religion Is Real
- 64. The Religion of Healthy-Mindedness
- 65. The Sick Soul: Slouching Toward Edinburgh
- 66. The Twice-Born
- 67. Voluntary Poverty
- 68. The Mystical Center
- V. THE PHILOSOPHER
- 69. William James at Sixty
- 70. Bergson
- 71. The Ph.D. Octopus and Dewey’s New School
- 72. Emerson
- 73. The True Harvard
- 74. A Life of Interruptions
- 75. The Many and the One
- 76. The Modern Moment: Radical Empiricism
- 77. Schiller versus Bradley versus James
- 78. Royce: Pragmatic Stirrings
- 79. William and Henry
- 80. California Dreaming
- 81. Earthquake
- 82. A General Theory of Human Action
- 83. Pragmatism
- 84. The Energies of Men
- 85. The Harvard Elective System Applied to the Universe
- 86. The True Race of Prophets
- 87. A Pluralistic Universe
- 88. Psychical Researches Redux
- 89. The Meaning of Truth
- 90. Ever Not Quite
- Epilogue
- Chronology
- James Family Genealogy
- Notes
- Principle Sources
- Index
- About the Author
- Connect with HMH