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William James and the philosophy of pragmatism (2018)
"Be not afraid of life, believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact." "The martial type of character can be bred without fear." —William James On a late September morning in 1891, William James walked reluctantly to his class in Harvard College’s Sever Hall. Characteristically dressed in a colorful shirt and a Norfolk jacket with a boutonniere, he must have seemed slightly bohemian.
Restless, he moved his family from London to Paris to Newport, introducing them to Alfred Lord Tennyson and John Stuart Mill and seeking enlightenment and the perfect education for his five children, whom he cherished. Delivering the two-volume manuscript of The Principles of Psychology to his impatient publisher, James attached a note, which read, “No one could be more disgusted than I at the sight of the book.” Fellow academics quickly recognized a monumental work that combined laboratory research with introspective insights. Our fires are damped, our drafts are checked.” Citing examples of soldiers at war and civilians in the San Francisco earthquake, James argues that through necessity and will power we can all raise our energy levels and become more heroic.
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