The late 19th century American philosopher, William James, was born in New York City in 1842. His father, Henry James, was a transcendentalist who encouraged James and his siblings to be inquisitive about all aspects of life. James spent his childhood in this intellectually liberal family and was educated throughout the world. These circumstances had a marked influence on James and his brother, Henry James, who was the author of books such as The Turn of the Screw and Daisy Miller.
James pursued painting for a while then decided that he was better suited for the sciences. James attended Havard University and went on to receive a MD in 1869, though he was unable to practice medicine because of poor health. In this time James suffered from a phobic panic and stayed with his father. He read a lot during this time including a writing on free will by Charles Renouvier, a Kantian idealist and relativist. This snapped James out of his psychological problem and changed the way he looked at the world, pushing him against determinism. James was quoted as saying "my first act of free will shall be to believe in free will."
At this time James took a job teaching physiology at Havard but showed a marked interest in psychology. James wrote and innovative book on psychology called The Principles of Psychology which was later condensed into a textbook.
Finally, with psychology behind him, James started to pursue philosophy. He started out with trying to prove the existence of God and the immortality of the soul because religion had always been an important part of his life. In the late 1880's he began teaching Ethics and Religion and continued researching philosophy. James centered his philosophy on what would improve the lives of people. He believed that philosophical thought should focus on practical matters, things that could be useful in our lives. This lead him to pragmatism, the philosophical method that seeks the basis for human knowledge and conduct in the practical results of philosophical ideas. Pragmatism first appeared in the writings of Charles Peirce. He firmly believed in free will and it's incompatibility with determinism pushed him to dismiss determinism. Through the pragmatic approach he backed his belief in free will by formulating an argument against determinism. James added to pragmatism with his idea that truth is not an absolute state of things and would be beyond human understanding if it were. Instead he believed that an idea is formulated and if it works well with life and nature it is essentially true. James used the pragmatic method to argue against monism, "the block universe"(all of reality is of one piece), and absolutes. One of James's most important ideas, Radical Empiricism is the idea that all reality is determined by experience. James believed that there is no need for the mind or for matter, all knowledge comes from pure experience. Everything is an experience and these experiences are linked together and form our reality.
William James died in 1910 in Chocorua, N.H.
Michelle Baker