William James

Se suele considerar a William James como el padre de la psicología en Estados Unidos aunque también pasa por ser el último de los grandes metafísicos. Esta es una de tantas contradicciones, algunas muy famosas, a las que tenemos que enfrentarnos al intentar comprender un espiritu tan plural como el suyo [...]. La inmortalidad humana analiza la relacion existente entre la mente y el cerebro abordando dos de las teorias explicativas: la teoria de la produccion y la teoria de la transmision, apostando por esta ultima. Asi considera la mente humana como una porcion de una mente preexistente mayor que se filtra en este mundo a traves de nuestros cerebros, y que, una vez finalizada nuestra vida, puede regresar a su fuente. Angel CagigasWilliam James (Nueva York, 1842-Nuevo Hampshire, 1910) fue un influyente psicologo y filosofo estadounidense, considerado uno de los padres de la psicologia moderna. Estudio medicina y enseño en la Universidad de Harvard. Fue pionero en la psicologia funcionalista, enfocada en como la mente se adapta al entorno. Su obra mas destacada, Principios de psicologia (1890), marco un hito en la disciplina. James tambien fue una figura clave del pragmatismo filosofico, destacando la utilidad practica del pensamiento. Su interes por la religion y la experiencia mistica se refleja en Las variedades de la experiencia religiosa (1902). Su legado sigue influyendo en la psicologia y la filosofia contemporaneas.

Entre 1906 y 1907, William James (1842-1910) pronunció una serie de conferencias que darían lugar a "Pragmatismo", manifiesto para una filosofía del futuro, más práctica y humana, centrada en la cotidianidad del hombre, que provocaria grandes criticas entre mentalidades racionalistas pero tambien enorme entusiasmo entre filosofos vitalistas como Bergson. Heredero del espiritu empirista y utilitarista pero abierto a interpretaciones practicas de la metafisica y la religion, James reexamino en esta obra no solo algunos de los problemas perennes de la filosofia, sino tambien los desafios que el evolucionismo y la ciencia moderna planteaban a las viejas concepciones de lo humano y lo divino, la verdad y la libertad. Escrito a caballo entre dos mundos, un pasado puritano que no acababa de morir y un futuro modernista que empezaba a nacer, "Pragmatismo" es un texto sumamente interesante para entender el papel de la filosofia en tiempos convulsos.Traduccion y prologo de Ramon del Castillo

The present volume is an attempt to carry out a plan which William James is known to have formed several years before his death. In 1907 he collected reprints in an envelope which he inscribed with the title Essays in Radical Empiricism; and he also had duplicate sets of these reprints bound, under the same title, and deposited for the use of students in the general Harvard Library, and in the Philosophical Library in Emerson Hall.Two years later Professor James published The Meaning of Truth and A Pluralistic Universe, and inserted in these volumes several of the articles which he had intended to use in the Essays in Radical Empiricism. Whether he would nevertheless have carried out his original plan, had he lived, cannot be certainly known. Several facts, however, stand out very clearly. In the first place, the articles included in the original plan but omitted from his later volumes are indispensable to the understanding of his other writings.

"The Varieties of Religious Experience is a generous and endlessly insightful book about human nature." The New York Times"The most notable of all books in the field of the psychology of religion and probably destined to be the most influential book written on religion in the 20th century." Psychology todayPublished in 1902 and quickly established itself as a classic, this book is a work that opens a new era of thinking. The study made by William James brings us a new definition of the word Religion which "shall mean for us the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine." Therefore, a religious experience appears to be a subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework.This book is fully annotated by the author (more than 300 footnotes) and contains a short biography.

The lectures that follow were delivered at the Lowell Institute in Boston in November and December, 1906, and in January, 1907, at Columbia University, in New York. They are printed as delivered, without developments or notes. The pragmatic movement, so-calledI do not like the name, but apparently it is too late to change itseems to have rather suddenly precipitated itself out of the air. A number of tendencies that have always existed in philosophy have all at once become conscious of themselves collectively, and of their combined mission; and this has occurred in so many countries, and from so many different points of view, that much unconcerted statement has resulted. I have sought to unify the picture as it presents itself to my own eyes, dealing in broad strokes, and avoiding minute controversy. Much futile controversy might have been avoided, I believe, if our critics had been willing to wait until we got our message fairly out.

Indice dei ContenutiPrefazionePrefazione dellautoreParte Prima - Gli Ideali della VitaI. Il Vangelo dellabbandonoII. Di una curiosa cecita negli esseri umaniIII. Cio che da senso ad una vitaParte Seconda - Discorsi agli insegnanti sulla PsicologiaCapitolo I. La psicologia e larte dinsegnareCapitolo II. La corrente della coscienzaCapitolo III. Il bambino come un organismo educabileCapitolo IV. Educazione e contegnoCapitolo V. La necessita delle reazioniCapitolo VI. Reazioni congenite e reazioni acquisiteCapitolo VII. Quali sono le reazioni congeniteCapitolo VIII Le leggi dellabitudineCapitolo IX. Lassociazione delle ideeCapitolo X. InteresseCapitolo XI. AttenzioneCapitolo XII. MemoriaCapitolo XIII. Lacquisizione delle ideeCapitolo XIV. AppercezioneCapitolo XV. La volontaNote

In "Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking," William James deftly articulates a philosophical framework that champions practicality over dogma, positioning pragmatism as a vital method for resolving metaphysical disputes and guiding moral conduct. Written in an accessible yet intellectually rigorous style, James intertwines philosophical discourse with real-world applications, thereby contextualizing pragmatism within the burgeoning landscape of American philosophical thought at the turn of the 20th century. Through a series of thought-provoking essays, he revisits longstanding philosophical debates, illuminating how ideas should be evaluated based on their practical consequences rather than their adherence to abstract principles. William James, an eminent psychologist and philosopher, was influenced by the uncertainties of his time, including the rise of scientific skepticism and the quest for individual meaning. His background in psychology, along with his explorations of religious experiences, informed his belief that ideas are tools for navigating lifes complexities. His commitment to a philosophy that is grounded in lived experience and utility reflects a broader trend in American thought, which seeks relevance in a rapidly modernizing world. "Pragmatism" is a compelling read for those seeking a nuanced understanding of philosophys relevance in everyday life. Jamess dynamic approach encourages readers to reconsider their beliefs and engage with the world in a manner that prioritizes outcomes and adaptability. This book is essential not only for students of philosophy but for any thoughtful individual navigating the complexities of the modern landscape.

Cuando la realidad del hecho de ser padres se manifiesta, algunas parejas que se han preparado bien para la experiencia del nacimiento del niño empiezan a preocuparse acerca de su capacidad para seguir adelante y ocuparse de ese ser diminuto. Cuando un recién nacido se une a la familia todo el sistema de vida ha de experimentar grandes cambios. Intente tener tiempo y relajarse para disfrutar de esta oportunidad única que se le brinda.

THE pivotal part of my book named Pragmatism is its account of the relation called truth which may obtain between an idea (opinion, belief, statement, or what not) and its object. Truth, I there say, is a property of certain of our ideas. It means their agreement, as falsity means their disagreement, with reality. Pragmatists and intellectualists both accept this definition as a matter of course.Where our ideas [do] not copy definitely their object, what does agreement with that object mean? Pragmatism asks its usual question. Grant an idea or belief to be true, it says, what concrete difference will its being true make in any ones actual life? What experiences [may] be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? How will the truth be realized? What, in short, is the truths cash-value in experiential terms? The moment pragmatism asks this question, it sees the answer: True ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify. False ideas are those that we cannot. That is the practical difference it makes to us to have true ideas; that therefore is the meaning of truth, for it is all that truth is known as.

Algo persuasivo susurra en nosotros. Una proximidad amorosa nos invita a intimar. Excita un oído; entonces; se inventa un sonar; un método de navegación; una filosofía como vía a la intimidad: amante-navegante. Dos sensibilidades; monista y pluralista; discuten sus preferencias sobre el amor y la navegación; de las costas del susurro; de su piel y profundidad; y de la certidumbre del encuentro íntimo.William James; filósofo de mundos; defiende la tesis pluralista confrontándola aquí con la vía monista. Desplaza el eje del problema; insubordina así el mapa conceptual: Ya no responderá a la solicitud de un orden especulativo sino al de una necesidad práctica: la diferencia entre avistar tierra; naufragar o nunca jamás zarpar; la diferencia entre intimar o no.El problema con la vía monista es que ha puesto a la intimidad en el Todo eterno de lo absoluto; tan lejana de nuestras partes finitas que nos deja librados a la misma infame castidad en la que se estaba bajo el teísmo monárquico. - ~Intimemos con lo Absoluto~; dice el monista. ¡Como si pudiéramos; con el pensamiento y la conducta! Somos invenciblemente partes; digamos lo que digamos; y debemos aprehender el absoluto como a un ser extraño. De esta serie de conferencias dictadas por James en el año 1909 en el Manchester College; cabe destacar al menos tres momentos sobresalientes: el capítulo que dedica al problema metodológico al que nos ancla el lastre hegeliano; la reseña maravillada que hace del genio de Gustav Fechner y su panteísmo alucinado; y muy especialmente la conferencia sobre Henri Bergson; junto a quien escribe las más delicadas palabras para una filosofía de la experiencia: vuelvan sus caras hacia la sensación; esa cosa envuelta en carne que el racionalismo siempre ha llenado de insultos. Finalmente; más cerca de la intimidad de la carne y de sus partes; anuncia en sus conclusiones la vía de estudios abierta con el pluralismo: la psicología descriptiva; los fenómenos religiosos; el panpsiquismo y otras bestias del desierto filosófico.

This book would never have been written had I not been honored with an appointment as Gifford Lecturer on Natural Religion at the University of Edinburgh. In casting about me for subjects of the two courses of ten lectures each for which I thus became responsible, it seemed to me that the first course might well be a descriptive one on "Mans Religious Appetites," and the second a metaphysical one on "Their Satisfaction through Philosophy." But the unexpected growth of the psychological matter as I came to write it out has resulted in the second subject being postponed entirely, and the description of mans religious constitution now fills the twenty lectures. In Lecture XX I have suggested rather than stated my own philosophic conclusions, and the reader who desires immediately to know them should turn to pages 511-519, and to the "Postscript" of the book. I hope to be able at some later day to express them in more explicit form...

El significado de la verdad (1909) vendría a ser una segunda parte o continuación de Pragmatismo (1907), el libro que de forma indiscutible marcó el nacimiento del movimiento filosófico del mismo nombre en Estados Unidos. Publicada dos años despues, la secuela (como reza el subtitulo original) trata de desarrollar la doctrina pragmatica apenas apuntada en su libro anterior, pero sobre todo de aclarar los numerosos malentendidos que habia generado. William James defiende que solo el empeño por no entender explica la insistencia de los criticos en leer el pragmatismo en el sentido mas popular y desdeñable del termino, como un puro oportunismo elevado a la categoria de doctrina filosofica. Debe reconocerse sin embargo que el empeño persiste en gran medida, y que las respuestas y aclaraciones de James no han perdido un apice de pertinencia en nuestros dias. En este sentido, tal vez el aspecto mas interesante del libro sea la extensa polemica que entabla William James con Bertrand Russell, donde se escenifica tal vez el germen del debate central de la filosofia americana del siglo XX

First published in 1907, "Pragmatism", a philosophical work by American philosopher William James, is an exploration of what is known as the pragmatic method, designed as a way to reconcile the claims of science with those of religion and morality. Pragmatism as a philosophy considers different philosophies most useful in terms of how they are implemented. Ultimately, James argues that any idea, be it philosophical, political, social, or otherwise, is valid only in terms of its experiential and practical consequences. The primary themes of Pragmatism are of truth, meaning, and reality, and the value they have when implemented. James explores the consequences of these differing philosophies when implemented, whether they can help people make better sense of the world and resolve the problems faced as both individuals and a larger society. "Pragmatism" is considered one of the most influential works of pragmatist philosophy.Two years later, a follow-up work, "The Meaning of Truth: A Sequel to Pragmatism" appeared. It is still widely read and analysed today by students of philosophy.

There are some peopleand I am one of themwho think that the most practical and important thing about a man is still his view of the universe. We think that for a landlady considering a lodger, it is important to know his income, but still more important to know his philosophy. We think that for a general about to fight an enemy, it is important to know the enemys numbers, but still more important to know the enemys philosophy. We think the question is not whether the theory of the cosmos affects matters, but whether, in the long run, anything else affects them.

First published in 1902, "The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James, a psychologist and philosopher who taught at Harvard, contains, in edited form, a series of natural theology lectures called the Gifford Lectures which he delivered at the University of Edinburgh in the two years leading up to its publication. The lectures argue about the nature of religion and the tendency of modern religious studies to ignore the importance of science in their research. The lectures, immediately acclaimed, are considered part of the Western canon. The lectures also contain hints of Jamess developing notion of pragmatism, which he later synthesised in his 1907 book, "Pragmatism".