Genuine Reality: A Life of William James - Hardcover

Simon, Linda

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151930988 ISBN 13: 9780151930982

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998

Synopsis

This first full biography of William James in nearly a generation brings us the man alive in all his complexity. Intellectual rebel, romantic pragmatist, aristocratic pluralist, James was both a towering figure of the nineteenth century and a springboard into the twentieth century. Constitutionally opposed to the rigidity and stability of the nineteenth century, James guided his generation toward the ambivalence, unpredictability, and indeterminacy of the times that followed. His explorations of pluralism and pragmatism for modern psychology and recognized the possibility of multiple perspectives long before Cubism. "The word 'or'" he once wrote, "names a genuine reality." Profiting from a rich range of sources, among them 1,500 letters written between James and his wife, Alice, acclaimed biographer Linda Simon creates an intimate portrait of this multifaceted and contradictory man. Exploring James in the context of this irrepressible family, his diverse and often quirky friends, and the cultural and political forces to which he so energetically responded, Simon weaves the many threads of William James's life into a genuine, and vibrant, reality.

About this title

About the Author:

Linda Simon is professor of English emerita at Skidmore College. She is the author of many books, including Coco Chanel and The Greatest Shows on Earth: A History of the Circus, both published by Reaktion Books.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0151930988
• ISBN 13: 9780151930982
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 467