Publisher's Synopsis
Prof. William James was by no means a systematic thinker, and his interests were too various to be satisfied with one interpretation of life. As soon as he had defined one conception he grew beyond himself and longed for a broader view. It is highly characteristic of Professor James that after he had set forth his philosophy of pragmatism, he said in his preface to The Meaning of Truth (1909): "I am interested in another doctrine in philosophy to which I give the name of radical empiricism, and it seems to me that the establishment of the pragmatist theory of truth is a step of first-rate importance in making radical empiricism prevail."
The philosophy of "radical empiricism" is outlined in twelve essays collected by Ralph Barton Perry, Professor James's literary executor, in the posthumous publication now before us. The several subjects discussed are as follows: "Does 'Consciousness' Exist?," "A World of Pure Experience," "The Thing and Its Relations," "How Two Minds Can Know One Thing," "The Place of Affectional Facts in a World of Pure Experience," "The Experience of Activity," "The Essence of Humanism," "La Notion de Conscience!' "Is Radical Empiricism Solipsistic?," "Mr. Pitkin's Refutation of 'Radical Empiricism, '" "Humanism and Truth Once More," and "Absolutism and Empiricism."
While these articles are written in the same style and with the same breadth of mind as the books on pragmatism, Professor James considers both as independent doctrines. He says: "Let me say that there is no logical connection between pragmatism, as I understand it, and a doctrine which I have recently set forth as 'radical empiricism.' The latter stands on its own feet. One may entirely reject it and still be a pragmatist."
In the editor's preface, Mr. Ralph Barton Perry quotes Professor James as follows: "Let empiricism once become associated with religion, as hitherto through some strange misunderstanding it has been associated with irreligion, and I believe that a new era of religion as well as of philosophy will be ready to begin."
-"The Monist," Volume 23 [1913]