Author: William J. Gavin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780877229469
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
Recently, the work of philosopher-psychologist William James has undergone something of a renaissance. In this contribution to the trend, William Gavin argues that James's plea for the "reinstatement of the vague" to its proper place in our experience should be regarded as a seminal metaphor for his thought in general. The concept of vagueness applies to areas of human experience not captured by facts that can be scientifically determined nor by ideas that can be formulated in words. In areas as seemingly diverse as psychology, religion, language, and metaphysics, James continually highlights the importance of the ambiguous, the contextual, the pluralistic, or the uncertain over the foundational. Indeed, observes the author, only in a vague unfinished world can the human self, fragile as it is, have the possibility of making a difference or exercising the will to believe. Taking James's plea seriously, Gavin traces the idea of the vague beyond the philosopher's own texts. In "conversations" with other philosophers--including Peirce, Marx, Dewey, and, to a lesser extent, Rorty and Derrida--the author shows that a version of James's position is central to their thought. Finally, Gavin looks for the pragmatic upshot of James's plea, reaffirming the importance of the vague in two concrete areas: the doctor-patient relationship in medicine and the creation and experiencing of modern art. In conclusion, Gavin argues that James's work is itself vague, in a positive sense, and that as such it functions as a "spur" to the reader.
William James and the Reinstatement of the Vague
Author: William J. Gavin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780877229469
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
Recently, the work of philosopher-psychologist William James has undergone something of a renaissance. In this contribution to the trend, William Gavin argues that James's plea for the "reinstatement of the vague" to its proper place in our experience should be regarded as a seminal metaphor for his thought in general. The concept of vagueness applies to areas of human experience not captured by facts that can be scientifically determined nor by ideas that can be formulated in words. In areas as seemingly diverse as psychology, religion, language, and metaphysics, James continually highlights the importance of the ambiguous, the contextual, the pluralistic, or the uncertain over the foundational. Indeed, observes the author, only in a vague unfinished world can the human self, fragile as it is, have the possibility of making a difference or exercising the will to believe. Taking James's plea seriously, Gavin traces the idea of the vague beyond the philosopher's own texts. In "conversations" with other philosophers--including Peirce, Marx, Dewey, and, to a lesser extent, Rorty and Derrida--the author shows that a version of James's position is central to their thought. Finally, Gavin looks for the pragmatic upshot of James's plea, reaffirming the importance of the vague in two concrete areas: the doctor-patient relationship in medicine and the creation and experiencing of modern art. In conclusion, Gavin argues that James's work is itself vague, in a positive sense, and that as such it functions as a "spur" to the reader.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780877229469
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 227
Book Description
Recently, the work of philosopher-psychologist William James has undergone something of a renaissance. In this contribution to the trend, William Gavin argues that James's plea for the "reinstatement of the vague" to its proper place in our experience should be regarded as a seminal metaphor for his thought in general. The concept of vagueness applies to areas of human experience not captured by facts that can be scientifically determined nor by ideas that can be formulated in words. In areas as seemingly diverse as psychology, religion, language, and metaphysics, James continually highlights the importance of the ambiguous, the contextual, the pluralistic, or the uncertain over the foundational. Indeed, observes the author, only in a vague unfinished world can the human self, fragile as it is, have the possibility of making a difference or exercising the will to believe. Taking James's plea seriously, Gavin traces the idea of the vague beyond the philosopher's own texts. In "conversations" with other philosophers--including Peirce, Marx, Dewey, and, to a lesser extent, Rorty and Derrida--the author shows that a version of James's position is central to their thought. Finally, Gavin looks for the pragmatic upshot of James's plea, reaffirming the importance of the vague in two concrete areas: the doctor-patient relationship in medicine and the creation and experiencing of modern art. In conclusion, Gavin argues that James's work is itself vague, in a positive sense, and that as such it functions as a "spur" to the reader.
The Reinstatement of the Vague
William James in Focus
Author: William J. Gavin
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253007860
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 132
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 0253007860
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 132
Book Description
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.
William James and the Need to Preserve "the Vague"
Author: William J. Gavin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 20
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 20
Book Description
William Faulkner, William James, and the American Pragmatic Tradition
Author: David H. Evans
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807149284
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 363
Book Description
In William Faulkner, William James, and the American Pragmatic Tradition, David H. Evans pairs the writings of America's most intellectually challenging modern novelist, William Faulkner, and the ideas of America's most revolutionary modern philosopher, William James. Though Faulkner was dubbed an idealist after World War II, Evans demonstrates that Faulkner's writing is deeply connected to the emergence of pragmatism as an intellectual doctrine and cultural force in the early twentieth century. Tracing pragmatism to its very roots, Evans examines the nineteenth-century confidence man of antebellum literature as the original practitioner of the pragmatic principle that a belief can give rise to its own objects. He casts this figure as the missing link between Faulkner and James, giving him new prominence in the prehistory of pragmatism. Moving on to Jamesian pragmatism, Evans contends that James's central innovation was his ability to define truth in narrative terms -- just as the confidence man did -- as something subjective and personal that continually shapes reality, rather than a set of static, unchanging facts. In subsequent chapters Evans offers detailed interpretations of three of Faulkner's most important novels, Absalom, Absalom!, Go Down, Moses, and The Hamlet, revealing that Faulkner, too, saw truth as fluid. By avoiding conclusion and finality, these three novels embody the pragmatic belief that life and the world are unstable and constantly evolving. Absalom, Absalom! stages a conflict of historical discourses that -- much like the pragmatic concept of truth -- can never be ultimately resolved. Evans shows us how Faulkner explores the conventional and arbitrary status of racial identity in Go Down, Moses, in a way that is strikingly similar to James's criticism of the concept of identity in general. Finally, Evans reads The Hamlet, a work that is often used to support the idea that Faulkner is opposed to modernity, as a depiction of a distinctly pragmatic and modern world. With its creative coupling of James's philosophy and Faulkner's art, Evans's lively, engaging book makes a bold contribution to Faulkner studies and studies of southern literature.
Publisher: LSU Press
ISBN: 0807149284
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 363
Book Description
In William Faulkner, William James, and the American Pragmatic Tradition, David H. Evans pairs the writings of America's most intellectually challenging modern novelist, William Faulkner, and the ideas of America's most revolutionary modern philosopher, William James. Though Faulkner was dubbed an idealist after World War II, Evans demonstrates that Faulkner's writing is deeply connected to the emergence of pragmatism as an intellectual doctrine and cultural force in the early twentieth century. Tracing pragmatism to its very roots, Evans examines the nineteenth-century confidence man of antebellum literature as the original practitioner of the pragmatic principle that a belief can give rise to its own objects. He casts this figure as the missing link between Faulkner and James, giving him new prominence in the prehistory of pragmatism. Moving on to Jamesian pragmatism, Evans contends that James's central innovation was his ability to define truth in narrative terms -- just as the confidence man did -- as something subjective and personal that continually shapes reality, rather than a set of static, unchanging facts. In subsequent chapters Evans offers detailed interpretations of three of Faulkner's most important novels, Absalom, Absalom!, Go Down, Moses, and The Hamlet, revealing that Faulkner, too, saw truth as fluid. By avoiding conclusion and finality, these three novels embody the pragmatic belief that life and the world are unstable and constantly evolving. Absalom, Absalom! stages a conflict of historical discourses that -- much like the pragmatic concept of truth -- can never be ultimately resolved. Evans shows us how Faulkner explores the conventional and arbitrary status of racial identity in Go Down, Moses, in a way that is strikingly similar to James's criticism of the concept of identity in general. Finally, Evans reads The Hamlet, a work that is often used to support the idea that Faulkner is opposed to modernity, as a depiction of a distinctly pragmatic and modern world. With its creative coupling of James's philosophy and Faulkner's art, Evans's lively, engaging book makes a bold contribution to Faulkner studies and studies of southern literature.
William James and the Transatlantic Conversation
Author: Martin Halliwell
Publisher:
ISBN: 019968751X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
This volume focuses on the American philosopher and psychologist William James and his engagements with European thought, together with the multidisciplinary reception of his work on both sides of the Atlantic since his death. James participated in transatlantic conversations in science, philosophy, psychology, religion, ethics, and literature.
Publisher:
ISBN: 019968751X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
This volume focuses on the American philosopher and psychologist William James and his engagements with European thought, together with the multidisciplinary reception of his work on both sides of the Atlantic since his death. James participated in transatlantic conversations in science, philosophy, psychology, religion, ethics, and literature.
Mark Twain and William James
Author: Jason Gary Horn
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 9780826210722
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
Focusing on the experience of freedom embodied in three Twain texts, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, and No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger, this book encapsulates both Twain's early and late theoretical speculations on the nature of the divided self. From the thoughts and actions of the protagonists in these works, we can trace and follow Twain's fictive map of mind, one that eventually leads to a new vision of personal freedom.
Publisher: University of Missouri Press
ISBN: 9780826210722
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 220
Book Description
Focusing on the experience of freedom embodied in three Twain texts, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, and No. 44, the Mysterious Stranger, this book encapsulates both Twain's early and late theoretical speculations on the nature of the divided self. From the thoughts and actions of the protagonists in these works, we can trace and follow Twain's fictive map of mind, one that eventually leads to a new vision of personal freedom.
Psychology
Author: William James
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 510
Book Description
An abridgement of the author's Principles of Psychology. Cf. Pref.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 510
Book Description
An abridgement of the author's Principles of Psychology. Cf. Pref.
Young William James Thinking
Author: Paul J. Croce
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421423650
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 393
Book Description
Ultimately, Young William James Thinking reveals how James provided a humane vision well suited to our pluralist age.
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421423650
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 393
Book Description
Ultimately, Young William James Thinking reveals how James provided a humane vision well suited to our pluralist age.
The Divided Self of William James
Author: Richard M. Gale
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521642699
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 388
Book Description
A study of the multiple directions of James's philosophy.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521642699
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 388
Book Description
A study of the multiple directions of James's philosophy.