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Ideas of William James, by Text

[American, 1842 - 1910, Born in New York. Brother of the novelist Henry James. Died at Chocorua.]

1882 The Sentiment of Rationality
p.20 p.20 22643 It seems that we feel rational when we detect no irrationality
p.21 p.21 22644 Our greatest pleasure is the economy of reducing chaotic facts to one single fact
p.21 p.21 22645 Understanding by means of causes is useless if they are not reduced to a minimum number
p.22 p.22 22646 We have a passion for knowing the parts of something, rather than the whole
p.23 p.23 22647 A complete system is just a classification of the whole world's ingredients
p.23 p.23 22648 A single explanation must have a single point of view
p.24 p.24 22649 Classification can only ever be for a particular purpose
p.25 p.25 22650 How can the ground of rationality be itself rational?
p.31 p.31 22651 Dogs' curiosity only concerns what will happen next
p.34 p.34 22652 The mind has evolved entirely for practical interests, seen in our reflex actions
p.36 p.36 22653 Early Christianity says God recognises the neglected weak and tender impulses
p.39 p.39 22654 We can't know if the laws of nature are stable, but we must postulate it or assume it
p.40 p.40 22656 Trying to assess probabilities by mere calculation is absurd and impossible
p.40 p.40 22655 Scientific genius extracts more than other people from the same evidence
p.40 p.40 22657 All good philosophers start from a dumb conviction about which truths can be revealed
p.42 p.42 22658 Experimenters assume the theory is true, and stick to it as long as result don't disappoint
p.43 p.43 22659 It is wisdom to believe what you desire, because belief is needed to achieve it
p.44 p.44 22660 Evolution suggests prevailing or survival as a new criterion of right and wrong
1896 The Will to Believe
p.188 p.58 6570 Imagine millions made happy on condition that one person suffers endless lonely torture
1904 Does Consciousness Exist?
Intro p.100 9285 'Consciousness' is a nonentity, a mere echo of the disappearing 'soul'
§3 p.110 9286 Consciousness is not a stuff, but is explained by the relations between experiences
1907 The Meaning of the Word "Truth"
p.2 p.250 6710 You can only define a statement that something is 'true' by referring to its functional possibilities
p.299 p.230 22305 If the hypothesis of God is widely successful, it is true
1907 Pragmatism - eight lectures
Lec 2 p.21 18971 Theories are practical tools for progress, not answers to enigmas
Lec 2 p.23 18972 Ideas are true in so far as they co-ordinate our experiences
Lec 2 p.25 18973 New opinions count as 'true' if they are assimilated to an individual's current beliefs
Lec 2 p.30 18974 Truth is a species of good, being whatever proves itself good in the way of belief
Lec 3 p.37 18975 We return to experience with concepts, where they show us differences
Lec 3 p.42 18976 Private experience is the main evidence for God
Lec 3 p.43 18977 The wonderful design of a woodpecker looks diabolical to its victims
Lec 3 p.43 18978 It is hard to grasp a cosmic mind which produces such a mixture of goods and evils
Lec 3 p.44 18979 Things with parts always have some structure, so they always appear to be designed
Lec 4 p.56 18980 If there is a 'greatest knower', it doesn't follow that they know absolutely everything
Lec 4 p.57 18981 'Substance' is just a word for groupings and structures in experience
Lec 5 p.74 18982 Pragmatism says all theories are instrumental - that is, mental modes of adaptation to reality
Lec 6 p.77 18983 In many cases there is no obvious way in which ideas can agree with their object
Lec 6 p.77 18984 True ideas are those we can assimilate, validate, corroborate and verify (and false otherwise)
Lec 6 p.78 18985 True thoughts are just valuable instruments of action
Lec 6 p.84 18986 Truth is just a name for verification-processes
Lec 7 p.98 18987 A 'thing' is simply carved out of reality for human purposes
Lec 8 p.105 18989 Pragmatism accepts any hypothesis which has useful consequences
Lec 8 p.113 18990 Nirvana means safety from sense experience, and hindus and buddhists are just afraid of life
Lec 8 p.115 18991 If the God hypothesis works well, then it is true
1908 The Pragmatist Account of Truth
'Fourth' p.81 22640 We find satisfaction in consistency of all of our beliefs, perceptions and mental connections
'Fourth' p.83 22641 Realities just are, and beliefs are true of them
'Seventh' p.89 22642 Man has an intense natural interest in the consistency of his own thinking