New Book: The Jamesian Mind

General

A new edited book will interest AHP readers: The Jamesian Mind, edited by Sarin Marchetti. The book is described as follows:

William James (1842–1910) is widely regarded as the founding figure of modern psychology and one of the most important philosophers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Renowned for his philosophical theory of pragmatism and memorable turns of phrase, such as ‘stream of consciousness’ and the ‘will to believe’, he made enormous contributions to a rich array of philosophical subjects, from the emotions and free will to religion, ethics, and the meaning of life.

The Jamesian Mind covers the major aspects of James’s thought, from his early influences to his legacy, with over forty chapters by an outstanding roster of international contributors. It is organized into seven parts:

Intellectual Biography

Psychology, Mind, and Self

Ethics, Religion, and Politics

Method, Truth, and Knowledge

Philosophical Encounters

Legacy.

In these sections fundamental topics are examined, including James’s conceptions of philosophical and scientific inquiry, habit, self, free will and determinism, pragmatism, truth, and pluralism. Considerable attention is also devoted to James in relation to the intellectual traditions of empiricism and Romanticism as well as to such other philosophical schools as utilitarianism, British idealism, Logical Empiricism, and existentialism. James’s thought is also situated in an interdisciplinary context, including modernism, sociology, and politics, showcasing his legacy in psychology and ethics.

An indispensable resource for anyone studying and researching James’s philosophy, The Jamesian Mind will also interest those in related disciplines such as psychology, religion, and sociology.

Table of Contents

William James: a philosopher without theories Sarin Marchetti

Part I: Intellectual biography

  1. William James: a sketch Linda Simon
  2. Young William James, almost a philosopher Paul J. Croce

Part II: Psychology, mind, and self

  1. The psychological roots of William James’s thought David E. Leary
  2. The evolutionary logic of freedom Lucas McGranahan
  3. William James on emotion: physiology and/as spirituality Shannon Sullivan
  4. Only across and beyond: reasoning about space in The Principles of Philosophy and The Turn of the Screw Paul Grimstad
  5. The self in James’s Principles Tito Magri
  6. James on personal identity Carol Rovane
  7. James’s rejection of the unconscious: a fallacious disawoval? Vincent Colapietro
  8. James and psychical research: a closer look Ermine L. Algaier IV

Part III: Ethics, religion, and politics

  1. On willing to believe Scott F. Aikin
  2. Pragmatist moral philosophy and moral life: embracing the tensions Todd Lekan
  3. James and the ethical importance of grace Megan Craig
  4. The ethical consequences of interests Matteo Santarelli
  5. William James on religion as effort, surrender, and power Wayne Proudfoot
  6. Faith, theology, and human nature Jeremy Carrette
  7. Strenous citizenship: William James and political action David Rondel
  8. James’s political consciousness Trygve Throntveit
  9. The gospel of heroism Ramón del Castillo

Part IV: Method, truth, and knowledge

  1. Pragmatism as a temper: William James and the idea of philosophy Stéphane Madelrieux
  2. Emotion, experience, and philosophical truth in early James Logi Gunnarsson
  3. James’s pragmatic maxim and the “elasticity” of meaning Henry Jackman
  4. William James’s psychology of truth Harvey Cormier
  5. Sense and common sense in William James Anna Boncompagni
  6. William James’s pluralisms Russell B. Goodman
  7. James’s radicalization of empiricism Michela Bella

Part V: Philosophical encounters

  1. James and the ‘East’: Buddhism and Japan David Scott
  2. James and the ancient world: pragmatism, stoicism, and the rhetoric of resilience Scott R. Stroud and Clayton L. Terry
  3. Around or through Kant? Kantian transcendental pessimism and Jamesian empirical meliorism Sami Pihlström
  4. William James, Romanticism, and the “humanistic principle” Ulf Schulenberg
  5. James, British empiricism, and the legacy of utilitarianism Piers H. G. Stephens
  6. “The moral earth, too, is round”: James and Nietzsche on the aim of philosophy Rachel Cristy
  7. Radical empiricism, British idealism, and the reality of relations Neil W. Williams
  8. James, verificationism, and Logical Empiricism Massimo Ferrari
  9. James and Heidegger on truth Mark Okrent
  10. The will to believe in one’s true being: love and God for William James and Gabriel Marcel John R. Shook
  11. Learning from correct blindness: James in dialogue with Cavell Naoko Saito
  12. The legacy of James within Putnam’s philosophy Rosa M. Calcaterra

Part VI: Legacy

  1. William James and the quest for meaningful measurement James O. Pawelski and David Bryce Yaden
  2. William James and the scientific mindset Martin Halliwell
  3. A self properly embodied: William James and 4E cognition Michele Di Francesco, Massimo Marraffa, and Alfredo Paternoster
  4. Jamesian Feminism in a time of polarization Erin C. Tarver
  5. James and bioethics: how moral obligations arise from desires, and how that matters to healthcare decision-making D. Micah Hester
  6. Do we love the creatures of the future enough? William James’s strenuous mood and the environmental crisis James M. Albrecht

About Jacy Young

Jacy Young is a professor at Quest University Canada. A critical feminist psychologist and historian of psychology, she is committed to critical pedagogy and public engagement with feminist psychology and the history of the discipline.