William James in Focus: Willing to Believe

by William J. Gavin

Overview

William James (1842-1910) is a canonical figure of American pragmatism. Trained as a medical doctor, James was more engaged by psychology and philosophy and wrote a foundational text, Pragmatism, for this characteristically American way of thinking. Distilling the main currents of James's thought, William J. Gavin focuses on "latent" and "manifest" ideas in James to disclose the notion of "will to believe," which courses through his work. For students who may be approaching James for the first time and for specialists who may not know James as deeply as they wish, Gavin provides a clear path to understanding James's philosophy even as he embraces James's complications and hesitations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253007926
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	01/10/2013
Series:	American Philosophy
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

William J. Gavin is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern Maine. He is author of William James and the Reinstatement of the Vague and Cuttin' the Body Loose: Historical, Biological, and Personal Approaches in Death and Dying. He is former president of the William James Society.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
1. James's Life: Will to Believe as Affirmation
2. "The Will to Believe": Policing versus Free-Roaming
3. The Principles of Psychology: Consciousness as a Constitutive Stream
4. The Varieties of Religious Experience: Mysticism as a Vague "Exemplar"
5. Pragmatism: Corridor as "Latent" and "The Will to Believe"
6. Metaphysics: Radical Empiricism and Pure Experience
7. "Pure" versus "Impure" Experience: Examples of Pure Experience
8. Challenges to "The Will to Believe"
Conclusion: Pragmatism, Death, and "The Will to Believe"
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Gavin has produced a bold and provocative introduction to James's philosophy that will be of interest to many scholars of American philosophy, especially those who see deep and important affinities between the views of American philosophers like James and Dewey and those of figures in the Continental tradition.

Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society

This praiseworthy volume presents a viewpoint on James that brings the novice reader into conversation and reminds the more experienced reader of the big-picture of James, of the zest and novelty of his vision. Understanding James requires some commitment and work—and this volume is a good and workable guide. . . . the volume is a success as it spurs us to consider James's work as demanding a new interpretation for each reader. Gavin, in his discussion of James, retains the zest and freshness of a philosopher who rewards the reader with her own view of a thick pluralistic universe.

William James Studies

[Gavin] . . . offers, in one hundred pages, a concise and mostly effective sketch of James' arc of thought, in which the theme of the impressive and engaging nature of James' philosophical 'outline' is expressly tackled.

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

"This praiseworthy volume presents a viewpoint on James that brings the novice reader into conversation and reminds the more experienced reader of the big-picture of James, of the zest and novelty of his vision. Understanding James requires some commitment and work—and this volume is a good and workable guide.... the volume is a success as it spurs us to consider James’s work as demanding a new interpretation for each reader. Gavin, in his discussion of James, retains the zest and freshness of a philosopher who rewards the reader with her own view of a thick pluralistic universe." —William James Studies

"Gavin’s book is meta-continuous, operating at more than one level at a time. Our responsibility is to take James seriously, and Gavin provides cogent reasons for doing so. William J. Gavin’s work continues to warrant the title 'Jamesian.'" —The Pluralist

From the Publisher

Gavin's book is meta-continuous, operating at more than one level at a time. Our responsibility is to take James seriously, and Gavin provides cogent reasons for doing so. William J. Gavin's work continues to warrant the title 'Jamesian.'

The Pluralist