William James in focus : willing to believe /

William James in focus : willing to believe /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Gavin, W. J. (William J.), 1943- author.
Imprint:	Bloomington : Indiana University Press, ©2013.
Description:	1 online resource (xii, 112 pages).
Language:	English
Series:	American philosophy American philosophy.
Subject:	James, William, -- 1842-1910. James, William, -- 1842-1910.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11170330

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	025300795X 9780253007957 1283869918 9781283869911 9780253007865 0253007860 9780253007926 0253007925
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index. English. Print version record.
Summary:	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 cle.
Other form:	Print version: Gavin, W.J. (William J.), 1943- William James in focus. Bloomington : Indiana University Press, ©2013 9780253007865 0253007860

Table of Contents:

James's life: will to believe as affirmation
"Will to believe": policing versus free-roaming
Principles of psychology: consciousness as a constitutive stream
Varieties of religious experience: mysticism as a vague "exemplar"
Pragmatism: corridor as "latent" and "the will to believe"
Metaphysics: radical empiricism and pure experience
"Pure" versus "impure" experience: examples of pure experience
Challenges to "the will to believe"
Conclusion: pragmatism, death, and "the will to believe."