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He was born before the Civil War, but Linda Simon's lively biography Genuine Reality depicts William James (1842-1910) as a decidedly contemporary thinker. A pioneering psychologist and unorthodox philosopher, he rejected rigid systems in favor of a flexible, relativist approach that stressed the fluid nature of identity and physical reality. His students at Harvard (Gertrude Stein, for one) found this immensely liberating, as did James himself. One of the book's many virtues is Simon's sensitive analysis of how his ideas rescued him from years of spiritual confusion and the smothering embrace of a neurotic family. Book Description

Customer Reviews (7)

Decent biography, not much philosophy
I enjoyed this book quite a bit.However, there are a few reasons why I didn't give it five stars:

1) The writing is decent, but not nearly so good that I actually enjoyed the writing itself as distinct from the content.

2) Simon seems very sure of herself when discussing the motivations of Henry James Sr., especially.I got the sense that Henry Sr., at least, could have been treated with a bit more nuance and charity.For comparison, I've only read Louis Menand's "The Metaphysical Club", so I can't speak with any authority, but it just seemed that Simon didn't like Henry Sr., whereas she did like William, so Henry Sr. didn't get the benefit of any doubt, whereas William did.(Henry Sr. figures largely in the beginning of the book)

3) I wish Simon had done a bit more to actually present James' philosophical views.I got a good picture of James as a person, but only a very vague one of him as a thinker.Genuine Reality is a biography, of course, and not a philosophical or psychological text, but given James' identity as a philosopher/psychologist, even a very large amount of philosophical explication would have been warranted.

Billy Boy
Very nicely done biography, Simon seems to be a meticulous, sympathetic critic of her subjects.While I enjoyed reading about this legendary figure in American philosophy and psychology, I ended up being less impressed by him than before.Such disenchantment is probably the hallmark of reading a good biography, as it necessarily brings the mighty down to fallible human dimensions.I had always wondered what it was about the James household that produced such a noteworthy novelist and such a thoughtful philosopher--it turns out that inept dysfunction is the source of this family genius.Their father, at least through Simons's interpretation, seems a very unlikable figure--a passive-aggressive tyrant who would constantly move his family from place to place rather than have them come to develop roots and mentors beyond his control.Sadly, this tactic generated in his family a doubt of self that could lead to such insights as those his two most prominent boys seemed to understand in all its nuances.While we may appreciate their hard-won insights, it doesn't seem any fun to have suffered through them as each of his children did for all their lives.The book provides a complex look at a figure who for all his knowledge remained an embattled, unsatisfied self-critic--like all the best thinkers, I suppose.

Do somebody a good turn and Not be found out...
The truly great men in early American history, in my humble opinion, are as follows:

Thomas Jefferson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain)
William James

Because of their intense individualism, idealistic views, and unique personalities, their writings, thoughts and ideas continue to affect western civilzation into the 21st century. Let me just say at the start - I'm not proposing a forum for argument, debating the worth and influence of one historical figure against another - these are men who have shaped my life in lasting ways - particularly the psychologist, philosopher and teacher, William James.

If you are interested in the works and life of this noble individual, ~Genuine Reality~ is a good place to begin. Linda Simon is an adept biographer and this book reflects her skill, understanding and love for the subject. It was refreshing to read a biography without the once fashionable 'psychoanalytical method' of interpreting history: inserting the Oedipus complex or hints of homoeroticism into the work. This method gets tedious and more reveals the biographer's mind than the subject. It is obvious that Simon wanted to approach James from a pragmatic perspective and she succeeded in showing James' life, warts and all, more specifically, however, his inspiring personality, compulsive curiosity and genuine love of life.

Similar to most people of genius, James' life was indeed a contradiction, at times almost enigmatic. He realized early on, that to rivet one's thought or perspective to a single dogma, to close one's mind to the infinite possibilities of existence, was to commit intellectual and spiritual suicide. Thus his thoughts are mercurial, bouncing from one possible view to another, always searching, investigating with an incessant vigour of a child. Following the works of Heraclitus, Henri Bergson, and aspects of Fredric Nietzche, James' 'Pluralism' is a philosophy of affirmation, transformation and becoming. Rallying against the Platonic and Aristotelian belief that fixity has more worth than change, he proposed that life or existence is not fixed at all but involved in an on-going state of flux: the operating word is change. And his life certainly reflects this perspective, as Simon writes:

"He was a scientist with a disposition of a philosopher and a philosopher with the perspective of an artist. He was convinced of his own essential complexity: certain that his public personality contradicted a hidden, more authentic self. He championed the new, he hungered for astonishment."

At the core of James' view of life is to maintain a continual openness to our existence: attempt to create a kind of vital joy to life's infinite possibilities. In other terms, do not sit back and merely observe, but get your hands dirty, engage, and life will give back to you many fold.

~Genuine Reality~ is an important contribution to American history. Linda Simon is a genuine biographer with transparent humility, more concerned with presenting her subject as it is, rather than trying to show off her knowledge, wit and writing skills. All too often, biographer's egos get in the way: they become so involved in revealing their intellectual capacity, the subject of the biography falls by the wayside. Not so with this text.

This book is an intimate portrayal of a great man's life: his interesting and unusual family, his work and relationships, and his sometimes-underrated contribution to philosophy. Out of all of James' writings, there is a line that showed me, in essence, the true character of the man:

"Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways: I will do somebody a good turn and Not be found out. I will do two things I Don't want to do."

This biography is recommended without reservation.

Accurate, but not as lively as one would wish
He was born before the Civil War, but Linda Simon's accurate yet occasionally grinding biography `Genuine Reality` depicts William James (1842-1910) as a decidedly contemporary thinker. A pioneering psychologist and unorthodox philosopher, he rejected rigid systems in favor of a flexible, relativist approach that stressed the fluid nature of identity and physical reality. His students at Harvard found this a gas, as did James himself. (He was always showing off to somebody his whole life, apparently greatly concerned that he be popular with this peers, whoever they happened to be.) One of the book's many virtues is Simon's sensitive analysis of how his ideas rescued him from years of spiritual confusion and the smothering embrace of a neurotic family. One of the books vices is her unnecessary GRE-like drills of vocabulary. Interestingly enough, these start appearing in the middle of the book, as if her editor said "cool it, so your readers won't drop the book due to your unnecessary pretentiousness." Anyway, this is still a very well researched bio. of W.J., giving particular attention to his family life.

WONDERFUL!
I pride myself on being a William James buff and this biography by Linda Simon has proven to be the best, most accurate portrayal ever written.If you don't believe my review, take a look at the excellent review of the book by the New York Times.I hightly recommend this book to all those who have enjoyed Linda Simon's previous biographies, and to all those who agree William James is a man worth remembering. ... Read more

Book Description
Explores James's concept of the individual in terms of physiology, psychology, philosophy, and religion ... Read more

Book Description
Consisting of some 572 letters, with another 460 calendared, this tenth volume in a projected series of twelve offers a complete accounting of William James's known correspondence—with family, friends, and colleagues—from the beginning of 1902 through March 1905.

For James these were hopeful years of recovery. The end of the depressing cure at Nauheim, the successful conclusion of the arduous Gifford Lectures in Edinburgh, the reaching maturity and independence of his two eldest children, and the gradual withdrawal from teaching responsibilities at Harvard allowed him to hope that he would at long last present his philosophical message to the world in the shape of a treatise on metaphysics.

Philosophy was in a state of unrest, with old alliances breaking up and new ones forming, and was ripe for a more fruitful reformulation of its traditional questions. Intellectualism, philosophical and scientific, was waning, making room for the emergence of an empiricism congenial to humane values. As reflected in the letters of this period, James comes to recognize that Dewey and the Chicago school were his allies and that the Frenchman Henri Bergson was moving in the same direction.Consequently, Bergson is the major new correspondent of the present volume, and, because he emerges during this period as James's leading supporter, Ferdinand Schiller is another dominant correspondent.

Often boisterous and irreverent, Schiller saw himself as a general about to overwhelm an aged and sleepy, but still dangerous, enemy. James, in the meantime, had to call upon all of his diplomatic skills to keep on good terms with the people Schiller irritated, while remaining Schiller's friend and defender. Scholars will find much material in this volume that will help them judge whether the common view of pragmatism as a capricious subjectivism largely reflected a widespread lack of respect for Schiller.

While continuing his involvement with anti-imperialism, James takes a more critical stance toward existing social conditions during this period, proclaiming his admiration for the small and insisting on the connection between great size and social evil. In 1904 he tours the American South. There are hints that he was acting as a scout for his brother Henry, which perhaps caused William James to see more of the meanness and shabbiness of the region than he would have otherwise.

Along with Bergson and Schiller, prominent intellectuals represented in this volume include Théodore Flournoy, Wincenty Lutoslawski, Carl Stumpf, Hugo Münsterberg, Josiah Royce, Charles Sanders Peirce, Oliver Lodge, John Dewey, George Herbert Palmer, Charles William Eliot, James Mark Baldwin, and Edwin Godkin. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Top Husserl Summary
Edmund Husserl is best known as the probably unintentional godfather of existentialism but Edie's review combines an inclusive review with notably
helpful critical analysis that makes this an invaluable introduction to phenomenology, both for the curious student and the professional philosopher.An interesting feature is Edie's discussion of the similarity of Husserl's language theory with the ideas of Noam Chomsky.
There's a great deal in Husserl's thought that didn't find expression in Sartre, Merleau-Ponty or Heidegger. ... Read more

Book Description
This magisterial book is the first comprehensive interpretive and criticalstudy of one of America's foremost philosophers and psychologists. Gerald Myers tracesJames's life and career and then uses this fresh biographical information to illuminate hiswritings and ideas. ... Read more

Book Description
In this important revisionist study, Posnock integrates literary and psychological criticism with social and cultural theory to make a major advance in our understanding of the life and thought of two great American figures, Henry and William James.Challenging canonical images of both brothers, Posnock is the first to place them in a rich web of cultural and intellectual affiliations comprised of a host of American and European theorists of modernity.A startlingly new Henry James emerges from a cross-disciplinary dialogue, which features Veblen, Santayana, Bourne, and Dewey, as well as Weber, Simmel, Benjamin, and Adorno. ... Read more

Book Description
This book offers a powerful new interpretation of the philosophy of William James. It focuses on the multiple directions in which James' philosophy moves and the inevitable contradictions that arise as a result. Richard Gale shows how relativistic tendencies can be reconciled with James' account of mystical experience. Such is the range of James' philosophy that this stimulating new interpretation will find readers among those interested in the history of modern philosophy and especially in pragmatism, as well as in the history of ideas, religion, and American studies. ... Read more

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The "science of religion" is an important element in the interpretation of William James's work and in the methodology of the study of religion. An authority on pragmatism and the philosophy of religion, Wayne Proudfoot and a stellar group of contributors from a variety of disciplines including religion, philosophy, psychology, and history, bring innovative perspectives to James's work. Each contributor focuses on a specific theme inThe Varieties of Religious Experience and suggests how James's treatment of that theme can fruitfully be brought to bear, sometimes with revisions or extensions, on current debate about religious experience.

Book Description
This book explores Wittgenstein's long engagement with the work of the pragmatist William James.In contrast to previous discussions, Russell Goodman argues that James exerted a distinctive and pervasive positive influence on Wittgenstein's thought. He shows that both share commitments to anti-foundationalism, to the description of the concrete details of human experience, and to the priority of practice over intellect. Considering in detail what Wittgenstein learnt from his reading of William James, Goodman provides considerable evidence for Wittgenstein's claim that he is saying "something that sounds like pragmatism."Download Description
This book explores Wittgenstein's long engagement with the work of the pragmatist William James. In contrast to previous discussions Russell Goodman argues that James exerted a distinctive and pervasive positive influence on Wittgenstein's thought. For example, the book shows that the two philosophers share commitments to anti-foundationalism, to the description of the concrete details of human experience, to the priority of practice over intellect, and to the importance of religion in understanding human life. Considering in detail what Wittgenstein learnt from his reading of Principles of Psychology and Varieties of Religious Experience the author provides considerable evidence for Wittgenstein's claim that he is saying 'something that sounds like pragmatism'. This provocative account of the convergence in the thinking of two major philosophers usually considered as members of discrete traditions will be eagerly sought by students of Wittgenstein, William James, pragmatism and the history of twentieth-century philosophy. ... Read more

Book Description
William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience was an intellectual landmark, paving the way for modern study of parapsychology and religious experience.In this indispensable new companion to the Varieties, key international experts in the fields of religious studies, psychology and mysticism offer contemporary responses to James's book, exploring its historical importance and modern relevance.As the only critical work dedicated to the cross-disciplinary influence of The Varieties of Religious Experience, it stands as a testament to James's genius and ongoing legacy. ... Read more

Book Description
At the turn of the twentieth century, William James was America's most widely read philosopher. In addition to being one of the founders of pragmatism, however, he was also a leading psychologist and author of the seminal work, The Principles of Psychology (1890). While scholars argue that James withdrew from the study of psychology after 1890, Eugene Taylor demonstrates convincingly that James remained preeminently a psychologist until his death in 1910. Taylor details James's contributions to experimental psychopathology, psychical research, and the psychology of religion. Moreover, Taylor's work shows that out of his scientific study of consciousness, James formulated a sophisticated metaphysics of radical empiricism. In light of historical developments in psychology, as well as the current philosophic implications of the neuroscience revolution related to the biology of consciousness, Taylor argues that both the subject matter of James's investigations and his metaphysics of radical empiricism are just as important for psychology today as James believed they were in his own time. This book represents a major new contribution both to James scholarship and to the history of American psychology. Although philosophers have analyzed radical empiricism, this book is the first to trace the development of radical empiricism as a metaphysics addressed to psychologists. It is also the first to show James's involvement in depth-psychology and psychotherapeutics and to trace historical continuity between James's work on consciousness and subsequent developments in psychoanalysis, personality theory, and humanistic psychology.Download Description
At the turn of the twentieth century, William James was America's most widely read philosopher. In addition to being one of the founders of pragmatism, however, he was also a leading psychologist and author of the seminal work, The Principles of Psychology (1890). While scholars argue that James withdrew from the study of psychology after 1890, Eugene Taylor demonstrates convincingly that James remained preeminently a psychologist until his death in 1910. Taylor details James's contributions to experimental psychopathology, psychical research, and the psychology of religion. Moreover, Taylor's work shows that out of his scientific study of consciousness, James formulated a sophisticated metaphysics of radical empiricism. In light of historical developments in psychology, as well as the current philosophic implications of the neuroscience revolution related to the biology of consciousness, Taylor argues that both the subject matter of James's investigations and his metaphysics of radical empiricism are just as important for psychology today as James believed they were in his own time. This book represents a major new contribution both to James scholarship and to the history of American psychology. Although philosophers have analyzed radical empiricism, this book is the first to trace the development of radical empiricism as a metaphysics addressed to psychologists. It is also the first to show James's involvement in depth-psychology and psychotherapeutics and to trace historical continuity between James's work on consciousness and subsequent developments in psychoanalysis, personality theory, and humanistic psychology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

James as Hero
This biography inspires.Obtain a copy and read it.It made me wish that I had known James, perhaps as one of his students at Harvard during "the nineties".He was a great mind and a great man, or as Barzun calls him, "the magnanimous man": a "loveable genius" and a true hero.If someone who comes to know about James, particularly through this book and James' own writing, can't consider him to be hero, then this world simply has no heros.The reader of Barzun's warm treatment delights along with the author in his lifelong awe of the power of James.

A walk to remember!
After reading 5 of his books now, I'm not sure there's much that Jacques Barzun can't do. Honestly, I, like most people, think they understand William James and I, like most people, found out that I was further from him than I thought. In an engaging thrill of a book, Barzun explains James- dare I say it- better than James explained James. Of course, WIlliam James, who, when pragmatism is differentiated from pragmaticism, pioneered a completely new system of thought. As such, he did not always express himself well. His "Pragmatism" befuddled more people than not and "The Meaning of Truth," meant as a clarification, confused those not already scratching their heads. In the end, James fell by the philosophical wayside until Barzun dusted our friend off and re-introduced us.

Barzun explains James' pragmatism from the ground up, so to speak. He starts with "The Principles of Psychology," which is really one of the best written pieces of American non-fiction on the planet and James' philosophical starting point. Next, he goes into "Pragmatism" and "The Meaning of Truth" taking much of the ambiguity out of a philosophy already difficult to the unaccustomed. Next, "A Pluralistic Universe" gets a summation along with "Varieties of Religious Experience." I hope I am not leaving you with the imppression that Barzun is doing any of this in an academically dry, sardonic manner. Nope. Just like James, his words bubble with excitement and humongous energy.

Honestly, before I started this book, I wasn't the biggest fan of William James and after, I'm still not the biggest fan of Wiliam James (preferring John Dewey much more). Still, I've come away the better for getting to know Barzun and James; i've read a great book and learned a bit more about a great (if tragic) philosophy. Also, read "The Metaphysical Club" and James' own "Principles of Psychology." ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

A century after the appearance of his famous works on religion, William James's philosophy of religion is still the subject of lively debate. James's numerous opponents have repeatedly charged him with abdication of intellectual responsibility, arguing that he advocated the adoption of religious belief without conclusive evidence on its behalf. In this book Hunter Brown shows that critics have consistently distorted James's view in the process of arriving at such charges.

The central argument presented here is that critics have failed to look at James's philosophical vision as a whole. This failure is addressed by Brown as he locates James's thought on religion within the wider scope of Radical Empiricism's analyses of experience in general, and subject-object relations in particular. Brown presents the main interpretations and critiques of James's work, and shows that James's views of religious experience, evil and power, human responsibility, and ethical concerns do not in fact lapse into subjectivism and fideism.

This penetrating study not only builds upon a long tradition of James scholarship but pushes through to new levels of inquiry and insight. It is a major work that will generate renewed discussion of James's thought along with the approaches and concerns emerging from it. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1865, twenty-three-year-old William James began his studies at the Harvard Medical School. When he learned that one of his most esteemed professors, Louis Agassiz, then director of the recently established Museum of Comparative Zoology, was preparing a research expedition to Brazil, James offered his services as a voluntary collector. Over the course of a year, James kept a diary, wrote letters to his family, and sketched the plants, animals, and people he observed. During this journey, James spent time primarily in Rio de Janeiro, Belem, and Manaus, and along the rivers and tributaries of the Amazon Basin.

This volume is a critical, bilingual (English-Portuguese) edition of William James's diaries and letters and also includes reproductions of his drawings. This original material belongs to the Houghton Archives at Harvard University and is of great interest to both William James scholars and Brazilian studies experts.