William James PRAGMATISM: Featured IDEAS

In this lesson we are going to talk about the philosophical thought of William James (1842-1910), founder of the functional psychology and one of the greatest diffusers / representatives of pragmatism. A current that affirms that philosophical and scientific knowledge can only be considered true in terms of its practical consequences, truth being the main instrument of knowledge. This was born at the end of XIX century, having its maximum diffusion in the United States and England. If you want to know more about the pragmatism of William James, keep reading this article because in a PROFESSOR we explain it to you.

Before analyzing the thought of William James, we must first explain what is the pragmatism. Thus, the first thing we must do is analyze the etymology of the word itself and, what we have, is that pragmatism has its origin in the Greek word pragma = practice or subject, which, later derived to the English term pragmatism.A term coined by Charles Sanders Pierce (1839-194) and which he defined as: a method for solving conceptual confusion.

In other words, pragmatism is the philosophical current that states that philosophical and scientific knowledge can only be considered true based on its practical consequences. Hence, from pragmatism it is affirmed that theory is always obtained through practice (= intelligent practice) and that the only valid knowledge is that which has a practical utility.

William James it was one of the maximum representatives of pragmatism. Thus, the main contributions of him to philosophy are found in his works: The principles of psychology (1890) and Pragmatism: A Method for Some Ancient Ways of Thinking (1907).

In the latter, he establishes that pragmatism is a method whose objective is to alleviate the debates metaphysical, since pragmatism seeks to understand and interpret things based on their practical consequences. In addition, one of the great contributions of our protagonist was his thesis on true knowledge or your idea of ​​consciousness. Let us, then, analyze the pragmatic thinking of William James:

Thought and true knowledge according to W. James

According to our protagonist, we must stop paying attention to the absolute truth or the nature of the phenomena and focus more on practical results and generating the necessary tools to obtain these results. That is, thought is valid and true when it is useful for our ways of life and needs. Therefore, true knowledge is found in what has a practical value in the future of our life (for our own benefit).

In this way, thought is determined based on use and is valid when it is useful for us and for our needs and, therefore, absolute truths and fixed ideas do not exist (antifundamentalism), but everything contrary. These are subject to change depending on the use that we give them in our day to day, for Therefore, reason is not the only tool to obtain the truth and knowledge (anti-rationalism).

Consciousness and emotionsaccording to W. James

In his work The principles of psychology (1890), our protagonist defines one of his great contributions to philosophy and psychology, his thesis on consciousness and emotions.

For him, consciousness is like a river: a constant flow of images and ideas that are in our mind. A flow where the stable (what you want to define or consciousness as such) and the changing (the content of consciousness) join.

Likewise, he states that consciousness (the flow) consists of units (transitive and substantive) of experiences linked to a context (a here and a now) and that are private (my consciousness I know myself and the rest do it indirectly), which take us from one section to another section of our flow of thoughts. Therefore consciousness is a process.

On the other hand, he also affirms that consciousness is what marks our behavior and generates our emotions / physiological states. Thus, for example: we do not cry because we are sad or we smile because we are happy, but because our Consciousness has received the information that we are smiling or crying, that is to say that our consciousness has bought that act.

Philosophy according to W. James

William James, establishes that the main function of philosophy is to generate or create practical knowledge or useful, as well as, detect and satisfy our needs / ways of life. Therefore, epistemological concerns should focus on generating Research Methods (not on how knowledge is acquired) and should be oriented to solve problems.

Similarly, from his philosophical perspective, he opposes the rationalism or to fundamentalism and shows more close to empiricism, fabilism, relativity and verificationism (= experience like him process by which the individual reaches the information). However, he establishes that it is the individual who must approach the different philosophical currents in a neutral way and by himself, so that he builds his system of truth.

“What you need is a philosophy that not only exercises your powers of intellectual abstraction, but also has a positive connection with this real world of finite human lives. "

In this way, for him, the pragmatic person is characterized by being practical (assess the benefits and functions of things), for assessing the consequences of his actions, for seeking the truth, for letting go of emotions and for focusing on obtaining the goals that are Mark.