Pragmatism

Across eight lectures given in 1906 and 1907, James lays out the method that made him famous: judge an idea by its practical consequences, by what difference it makes in actual experience. He opens by dividing thinkers into the tough-minded and the tender-minded, then offers pragmatism as a way to ease that old quarrel between hard fact and human meaning. Truth, on his account, is not a static mirror of reality but something that happens to an idea as it proves useful and workable. Written with warmth and plain talk, the book turned a technical philosophy into public conversation. This free PDF and EPUB edition presents the founding text of American pragmatism.