William James

Pragmatism

A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking is an American philosophy classic by the great American writer and philosopher, William James. Pragmatism is a philosophical approach that seeks to both define truth and resolve metaphysical issues. William James demonstrates an application of his method in the form of a simple story: A live squirrel supposed to be clinging on one side of a tree-trunk; while over against the tree's opposite side a human being was imagined to stand. This human witness tries to get sight of the squirrel by moving rapidly round the tree, but no matter how fast he goes, the squirrel moves as fast in the opposite direction, and always keeps the tree between himself and the man, so that never a glimpse of him is caught. The resultant metaphysical problem now is this: Does the man go round the squirrel or not? James solves the issue by making a distinction between practical meaning. That is, the distinction between meanings of "round." Round in the sense that the man occupies the space north, east, south, and west of the squirrel; and round in the sense that the man occupies the space facing the squirrel's belly, back and sides. Depending on what the debaters meant by "going round," the answer would be clear. From this example James derives the definition of the pragmatic method: to settle metaphysical disputes, one must simply make a distinction of practical consequences between notions, then, the answer is either clear, or the "dispute is idle." Both James and his colleague, Charles Sanders Peirce, coined the term "cash value.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Brian Westland
• Seitenzahl: 110
• Erscheinungstermin: 21. Juni 2023
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 6mm
• Gewicht: 173g
• ISBN-13: 9781774419823
• ISBN-10: 1774419823
• Artikelnr.: 68316116

Autorenporträt

William James (January 11, 1842 - August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States.[4] James is considered to be a leading thinker of the late 19th century, one of the most influential philosophers of the United States, and the "Father of American psychology".[5][6][7]Along with Charles Sanders Peirce, James established the philosophical school known as pragmatism, and is also cited as one of the founders of functional psychology. A Review of General Psychology analysis, published in 2002, ranked James as the 14th most eminent psychologist of the 20th century.[8] A survey published in American Psychologist in 1991 ranked James's reputation in second place,[9] after Wilhelm Wundt, who is widely regarded as the founder of experimental psychology.[10][11] James also developed the philosophical perspective known as radical empiricism. James's work has influenced philosophers and academics such as Émile Durkheim, W. E. B. Du Bois, Edmund Husserl, Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Hilary Putnam, Richard Rorty, and Marilynne Robinson.