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William James



William James, MD, (1842–1910) was an American professor and historian who helped establish the philosophical tradition of pragmatism. In addition to studying and writing extensively about religion, mysticism, and education, he is also generally considered the founder of American psychology.

William James
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William James on Attention, Multitasking, and the Habit of Mind That Sets Geniuses Apart

There is a striking similarity between James’s vivid description of inattentiveness, predicated on the now-endangered phenomenon of boredom, and the mind-body state induced by the vast majority of our device use, portending to ward off boredom but effecting the very same result.

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Maria Popova
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FindCenter Quotes ImageNone of us are ever who we were yesterday.

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William James
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08:11

Introduction to Metaphysics

In this lecture we provide an introduction to metaphysics; we examine its history, subject matter, as well as looking at Ludwig Wittgenstein's view of metaphysics.

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William James
2013
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Essays in Radical Empiricism

Essays in Radical Empiricism (ERE) by William James is a collection edited and published posthumously by his colleague and biographer Ralph Barton Perry in 1912.

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William James
2019
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What Is an Emotion? William James’s Revolutionary 1884 Theory of How Our Bodies Affect Our Feelings

The trailblazing psychologist William James — who shaped our understanding of the psychology of habit — made a revolutionary case in an 1884 essay titled “What is an Emotion?” for “how much our mental life is knit up with our corporeal frame.”

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Maria Popova
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FindCenter Quotes ImageThe community stagnates without the impulse of the individual; the impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.

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William James
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09:06

William James and the Sick Soul

In this lecture we examine some of William James's ideas from his famous work "Varieties of Religious Experience". We look at his conception of religion and his interesting contrast between the healthy-minded and the sick soul.

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William James
2013
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Pragmatism and Other Writings

This book grew out of a set of lectures and includes Pragmatism, The Meaning of Truth, Psychology, The Will to Believe, and Talks to Teachers on Psychology.

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William James
2000
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William James: The Pragmatic Visionary

William James, preeminent American philosopher and one of the founders of the field of psychology, is revered today as one of our country's greatest thinkers. Here is an overview of his Life of Contradictions and the Varieties of his Religious Experience.

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Edward Hoffman
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FindCenter Quotes ImageAll our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits.

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William James
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