Title

Genuine reality : a life of William James

Description

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. 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 nurtured ideas that continue to shape our society. Profiting from a rich range of sources, among them 1,500 letters written between James and his wife, Alice, Linda Simon creates an intimate portrait of this multifaceted and contradictory man.

Identifier

772002

151930988

Creator

Simon, Linda

Format

1st ed.

Source

Brian Lamb Booknotes Collection

Gift of Brian Lamb, 2011.

Catalog record

Language

eng

Date

1998

Program air date: June 7, 1998

Publisher

Harcourt Brace

George Mason University. Libraries. Special Collections & Archives

Text

Transcription of Annotations
Notes on front endpapers and half-title: It started with John McDermott--Linda Simon's professor when/where. b. 1842 --William, b. 1843--Harry. Studied medicine--depression (uncontrollable) 101, emotionally exhausted, thoughts of suicide. 1867 time in Germany, whole family sick: Alice/Harry/William p. 114. What did word insanity mean in 19th century (p. 118). p. 357 two statements by James--read them to author and see if she can explain. Why were so many people enthralled if didn't agree with him or understand him. Pragmatism, pluralism, radical empiricism--his legacy to us. Two of his students--Walter Lipmann/Gertrude Stein. Swedonborg--the rejection of selfhood. James distained intellectual elite. Leonora Evelina Piper p 199. The Chew Chew movement of William Gladstone p 312. James had no doctorate p 327. Why was psychical research movement so controversial--Leonora Piper p. 306. Gifford lectures in Edinburgh. William James--"a piecemeal super nationalist" p 309. Took (rarely) mind altering drugs--Mystical experiences. Jawes--suffered from: chronic indigestion, frequent fatigue, pessimistic outlook on life. Horace Fletcher--mind cures--followed. Gladstone diet--Chew-chew movement 32X's. P. 328 James Doctorate-talked about U. of Chicago--John Dewey. W.J.--fostered intellectual independence. He was worried he would be characterized as "talks to teachers" "religious experience." Lamb checks some of the sections on the Contents page. Notes: "5'8"," "political," "scientist, philosopher, artist," "money," "Religion," "old mad at 67," "His philosophy," "art," "science," "1870s," "will to choose," "learn more about himself one's sense of self," "Ireland," "Grandfather," "3 wives, 13 children," "Henry," "Henry amputation," "1828 Union College," "1830 graduated," "a small annuity," "left seminary," "Catherine Walsh," "bestiality," "marries Mary," "1842 William James born," "Emerson," "1843 Henry born," "depression," "tyrants," "England," "1844 France," "return to England," "Windsor," "Henry's breakdown," "His crisis," "1844 pregnant," "returns to N.Y.C.," "pregnant again," "intimate circle," "WASH Square," "1848 Alice born," "Socialism," "1849 Europe again," "spankings," "conceit, arrogance, smugness," "1849 Staten Island," "1853 Kate married," "Kate's marriage lasted two years," "1855 William 13," "leaves Geneva," "a tutor," "Paris," "Henry taught history," "Germany," "income short," "Thoreau," "time to leave," "Union College," "father against college," "Henry visits Emerson," "Christmas and the children," "back to Geneva," "Newport, 1860," "talented artist," "aggressive banter," "La Farge," "rejects ART," "wanted to be a naturalist," "1864 Harvard Med.," "Beacon Hill," "Brazil," "Philosophy," "age 24 women," "Dresden," "a telescope," "baths," "his father," "attacking his father's essay," "atheist," "Henry/God is reality," "back pain, stomach," "Harry not well," "Kate," "family's all sick, Harry, Alice, William, back home 20 Quincy Street," "medical degree," "insanity 19th century," "God in Minny's life," "back pain again," "McLean Hosp., mental asylum," "William's son William," "separation from family for William--helped alleviate symptoms," "epileptic patient," "James panic attack," "no brooding," "Harvard President Eliot 35 yrs.," "Eliot good for James," "Bowditch 1871 Harvard," "James' 1st prof. job," "leave the country," "retreat," "salary," "walk on Boston Common card "engaged"," "William's farewell," "Dec 18 died," "reason for trip to Europe," "James returns home," "conjunctions, prepositions," "Sister Alice, Nov. '83 Wilky dies," "Bob," "3rd boy born Herman Hagen," "editing his father's works," "single truths," "the Nation gave a bad review," "psychic phenomena," "religion," "séances," "ghosts, SPR," "hypnotized women," "Dec 18, 1884 American Society for Psychical Research," "1885 scarlet fever," "Herman died July 9," "a teacher," "kisses a maid," "Aunt Kate dies," "5th pregnancy," "lectures to girls," "his lectures," "real world," "money," "faith," "mugwumps," "Spanish American War," "stuck up for mind healers," "June 1898," "James exhausted," "Piper," "William 57, 1899," "sabbatical," "death," "God," "30 yrs w/o God," "a medium," "Gifford lectures, a large crowd," "James for W.J. Bryan," "James on T.R. slime and grit," "white man," "imperialism evil," "Europe corrupt geniuses," "1894 Dreyfus," "McKinley shot," "admired Roosevelt," "diet Gladstone 32X's," "greed, pessimism, selfishness, violence," "James own racism," "Aliens a novel," "moral keynote of James family," "Sarah Whitman," "dying age 62," "Hodgson dies," "depression," "Peggy's coming out," "Billy medicine--gone for ART," "Charles A. Strong," "Strong marries J.D. Rockefeller's daughter," "Harvard," "doctorates," "Harvard speech," "1905 Europe," "1906 Stanford demands," "pressure, disorienting, loneliness for Alice, discomfort of gout," "dreams," "James responds violently to dreams," "Alice," "Stanford," "earthquake," "48 seconds Stanford demolished," "go home," "sexual scandal," "Pragmatism," "Charles Pierce," "last class," "Columbia lectures," "Lovejoy," "1. colds; 2. nervous exhaustion; 3. cold; 4. dyspepsia; 5. vertigo," "Oxford men," "feels old in past year," "exhausted, chest pains, dizziness," "Freud meeting," "angina attack w Freud," "physical medium," "table levitation," "scandal," "artists," "God," "a text book," "brother Henry," "Edith Wharton's car," "Bob dies," "Good to be home," "photo of death," "a religious man," "Henry," "[William] a religious man," "Henry," "Alice wears black, holds séances, talks to mediums," "Cambridge Cemetery--James buried." Underlinings: orations, personality, politics, family, education, career, finances, beliefs, art, friends, writings, travels, mental/physical health.

Subject

"James, William, 1842-1910."

"Philosophers--United states--Biography."

Relation

Original Booknotes interview

Rights

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