Recently, on the steps of the James Union Building, the home of philosophy at Middle Tennessee State University, awaiting the beginning of a Cornel West event, I was talking with several philosophy students and one young man who was “not in philosophy, but was into it,” and the subject of William James came up. They know of James, but not so much about him. I told Elle, Javan, and Dom that I had a 5-step program to get to know James that I would share, and gave them the following.
MY FIVE STEP PLAN FOR KNOWING WILLIAM JAMES
I never had heard of William James before I went back to college at age 74, and I think of myself as a fairly well educated man. I knew his brother Henry, the author. I have discovered that I am not alone in not encountering James in my education. I have been educating myself in James over the past couple of years and have come to love him. I have found that James speaks to me, and that there are great lessons in how to live in his writings. It has been worthwhile for me to know him better, and I think it would be for others. For any interested, here is a 5-step plan to get to know this remarkable man.
Step 1: Do a quick Google search. Read Wikipedia.
It helps your introduction to William James to get some sense of who he was and his place as an American philosopher. James is not part of the philosophical canon and does not belong to any “school” of philosophy. English philosopher Alfred North Whitehead (1861 – 1947) claimed that the four great philosophical “assemblers” were Plato, Aristotle, Leibniz, and William James. Good company. James was a remarkable man. A quick read of his Wikipedia entry on his early life, career, and family gives a taste of who he was. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James
Step 2: Watch an address by James’s biographer Robert Richardson.
An address by James’s biographer Robert Richardson in August 2010 to the William James Symposium in Chocorua, New Hampshire, on the 100th anniversary of the death of James, provides helpful insight into the type of thinking that makes James so valuable in understanding how to live. (Chocorua was James’s summer home, and the view of Mount Chocorua from his home, which “had 14 doors, all opening outside,” is on the home page of Dr. Phil Oliver’s blog, Up@dawn 2.0.) https://jposopher.blogspot.com/
Robert Richardson address, Will You or Won’t You Have It So, at Chocorua, 2010
A second video from the conference contains the introduction of Robert Richardson and the Q&A discussion after the talk. Watch from @17:40. Note specifically James scholar John McDermott, beginning at 19:40, when the discussion turned to James’s philosophical “school,” and McDermott says that James was not a part of any school, nor would he want to be, and that “in my experience there are persons who suddenly get introduced to James and things change, and that James becomes some kind of a presence in their lives.”
Step 3: Read Biographer Robert Richardson introduction to The Heart of William James and Jamesian scholar John McDermott’s introduction to The Writings of William James.
I recommend beginning reading James’s essays with those collected in Richardson’s The Heart of William James. In the introduction he says that “[r]eading James continues to change lives. The pieces in this volume are not intended to cement James’s reputation in philosophy, psychology, or religious studies, or to sample his views; they have been chosen for their direct appeal to a general reader.” You are the general reader, and the appeal of these essays to you will be how William James, in speaking from his heart, speaks to you.
John McDermott edited an excellent collection of James’s work in The Writings of William James. In his introduction to this collection, McDermott presents James’s thinking in all its manifestations, stressing the importance of radical empiricism and placing into perspective the doctrines of pragmatism and the will to believe. The critical periods of James’s life are highlighted to illuminate the development of his philosophical and psychological thought. The Preface and Introduction are the best places to start your journey into James.
Step 4: Read John Kaag’s Sick Souls and Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life.
Before turning to James’s essays and his biography, read John Kaag’s popular book, Sick Souls and Healthy Minds: How William James Can Save Your Life. John Kaag is professor and Chair of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts. In addition to Sick Souls, he is the author of American Philosophy: A Love Story (2016), and Hiking with Nietzsche: Becoming Who You Are (2018). It is a good story that shows how James can be a positive influence in your life. The book is a personal testimony to the idea that James can change lives.
Step 5: Read biographies and essays.
Now begins the study of James. He was a prolific writer and popular public lecturer. The best way to begin a study of James is with a biography and selected essays in hand, and read the essays as they appear in the biography. I would recommend Richardson’s biography and his collection of essays in The Heart of William James.
Biographies:
Robert Richardson, William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism
Ralph Barton Perry, The Thought and Character of William James, two volumes (the gold standard for James biographies)
Essays:
Robert Richardson, The Heart of William James
John McDermott, The Writings of William James
William James: Writings – The Library of America, two volumes (Best collection for the serious)
(Essays can be found online at https://www.gutenberg.org/