Customer Reviews

The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition (Phoenix Book)

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This is an absolute value! Most of James's published writings including the hard to find "Pluralistic Universe" and "Essays in Radical Empiricism" are here. As well, we get the compolete "Pragmatism", "The Meaning of Truth" and excerpts from "Varieties" and "Psychology".

Before reading this collection, I'd read quite a bit of James. I bought this primarily for "Essays in Radical Empiricism" and "Pluralistic Universe" as this edition is cheaper than buying them seperately. I decided, though, that I'd read this one straight through and I'm glad I did. James is an amazingly astute, extremely relevant (if to some, troubling) thinker.

Unfortunately, James has been somewhat ignored. His goal as evidenced by most of this volume was to break the dualism prevelant in philosophy of an exagerated empiricism and an equally exagerated rationalism. James devoted most of his career not to building a solid and reductionistic philosophy (the activity of todays preferred philosophers) but to wiping the slate clean, being realistic about what we can know versus speculation, and reporting how things really are rather than what makes us comfortable. While James' commitment to radical empiricism and pragmatism made and make philosophers balk, they are also why we need to read and discuss him today.

My only complaints (for which I don't subtract anything) are: 1.) that the book does not go from one book in its entirety to another. Rather an essay from "Psychology" may be followed by one from "The Will to Beleive" and vice versa. This annoyed my because I did want to read them as they were meant to be read (chronological essays). Still, the divied up essays are good for continuities sake (as the editor did a good job sequencing them.

2.) As James probably did not intend for any one person to read all of his essays, he repeats himself (in ideas and words) frequently. In fact, in James' essay collection "The Will to Beleive" he apologizes in his preface for repeating paragraphs verbatum during various lecture/essays. Imagine that X 10. Oh, well! MInor compaints for such a great collection. Also, recommended is the "Writings of John Dewey" also put together by McDermott.

The title is accurate: this is certainly a comprehensive edition of the work of William James. Included are several hundred pages of essays that lay out in complete detail the psychological and philosophical ideology of William James. You can not buy a better James work, and especially not for $25 or less.