Pragmatism

Name: Pragmatism
Brand: Findaway
Availability: InStock
Author: William James
ISBN: 9781787366442

Author: William James

Narrator: George Easton

Unabridged: 5 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Interactive Media

Published: 03/28/2023

Categories: Nonfiction, Philosophy

Synopsis

In this book, James argues that the most important criterion for evaluating ideas and beliefs is their practical usefulness in real-life situations, rather than their abstract truth or correspondence to reality. James introduces the concept of "pragmatism," which he defines as a method of approaching philosophical questions by examining their practical consequences. He argues that truth is not an absolute and fixed entity, but rather a relative and changing one that is determined by the practical outcomes of our beliefs and actions. Read in English, unabridged.

About William James

American psychologist and philosopher William James (1842-1910), brother of novelist Henry James, was a groundbreaking researcher at Harvard University and one of the most popular thinkers of the nineteenth century. Among his many works are Principles of Psychology and Human Immortality.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Buck on February 09, 2012

Canadians of a certain age may recall a brilliant series of commercials put out by Carlsberg years ago. Aimed at thirty-something men, they cleverly extolled the joys of adulthood. A typical spot showed a horny couple sharing a pre-coital embrace in a motel room. The voiceover narrator explains: “A......more

Goodreads review by Dave on January 20, 2016

I read this as I have read it before for a grad course I am teaching on Language, Literacy and Democracy. And Pragmatism. This book is a series of lectures James gave more than a hundred years ago to help explain pragmatism as a method, not as just yet another philosophical position. It's a method o......more

Goodreads review by robin on June 20, 2024

James's Pragmatism In 1906 and 1907, William James delivered a series of eight lectures at the Lowell Institute, Boston, and at Columbia University, New York City which he published as "Pragmatism: A New Way for Some Old Ways of Thinking". This short book, which James further described as "popular" l......more

Goodreads review by Alina on May 05, 2022

James is a wonderful writer, and this text would be readily approachable by even readers who have no background in philosophy. A consequence of this, however, is that James doesn't lay out his views systematically, and doesn't provide rigorous argument for them; his arguments primarily consist in ap......more