The world of pure experience

pp. 9-23

in: Richard Cobb-Stevens, James and Husserl, Berlin, Springer, 1974

Abstract

During the last decade of his life, James hoped to write a systematic metaphysical treatise which would give a coherent foundation to his pragmatic theory of truth, his principles of psychology and his reflections concerning a pluralistic universe. Unhappily, his teaching commitments and his popularity as a lecturer prevented the completion of this project. However, two works published after his death, Essays in Radical Empiricism and Some Problems in Philosophy, bear the mark of this desire to develop a comprehensive and rigorous philosophic system. But both of these works provide only a pro-visional sketch of a global philosophic position, and they lack the clarity typical of James's earlier writings.