The Meaning of Truth (1909)

by William James

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Philosophy. Psychology. Nonfiction. HTML: William James was an important American psychologist and philosopher. He was one of the early academics of psychology and his philosophy touched mainly on pragmatism and the religious or mystic experience. In this sequel to his philosophical work Pragmatism, James discusses the nature of truth. He talks about relative truth, being "true for him who experiences the workings," as opposed to absolute or religious truth. .… (more)

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I bought it. It is a set of reprints where he attempts to counter his critics by simple repeat of his previously published arguments. Did he not believe that his critics had read his publications?

Quoting himself he prefaces with "Truth' I there say, 'is a property of certain of our ideas. It means their agreement, as falsity means their disagreement, with reality. Pragmatists as well as intellectualists both accept this definition as a matter of course.

OwenFosterThomas | Jun 7, 2009 |

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Pragmatism and The Meaning of Truth (The Works of William James) by William James

Writings, 1902-1910 : The Varieties of Religious Experience / Pragmatism / A Pluralistic Universe / The Meaning of Truth / Some Problems of Philosophy / Essays by William James

Is a (non-series) sequel to

Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James

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Canonical title

The Meaning of Truth

Original title

The Meaning of Truth; a sequel to "Pragmatism"

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1909

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Preface:
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.’

The following inquiry is (to use a distinction familiar to readers of Mr. Shadworth Hodgson) not an inquiry into the ‘how it comes,’ but into the ‘what it is’ of cognition. What we call acts of cognition are evidently realized through what we call brains and their events, whether there be ‘souls’ dynamically connected with the brains or not. But with neither brains nor souls has this essay any business to transact. In it we shall simply assume that cognition is produced, somehow, and limit ourselves to asking what elements it contains, what factors it implies.

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Philosophy. Psychology. Nonfiction. HTML:

William James was an important American psychologist and philosopher. He was one of the early academics of psychology and his philosophy touched mainly on pragmatism and the religious or mystic experience. In this sequel to his philosophical work Pragmatism, James discusses the nature of truth. He talks about relative truth, being "true for him who experiences the workings," as opposed to absolute or religious truth.

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