Abstract
The puzzlement of some Western philosophers who deal with the problem of time was foreshadowed by Augustine in Book XI of Confessions. It seems that we are directly acquainted with time and immediately know it until we are asked about it. When we then seek to give a rational account of time to the questioner, the subject seems to shred before our eyes into particular kinds of process and change. But descriptions and analyses of special topics in time’s domain, we feel, may not really settle all of time’s accounts. The philosophical impulse, finding itself ultimately in the red, often enough weakly reckons “it is a mystery” and, threatened with bankruptcy, leaves the field. Such a reckoning, we shall see, may well be William James’ final word on time.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
William James, Pragmatism (Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1963), p. 90.
William James, Some Problems of Philosophy (New York: Greenwood Press, 1968), p. 99. Hereafter, this book is cited as Problems.
William James, The Pluralistic Universe (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1920), p. 230.
Ibid., p. 232.
Problems, p. 144.
Ibid., pp. 148–149.
Pluralistic Universe, pp. 229, 231; and Problems, p. 157.
William James, The Will To Believe (New York: Dover Publications, 1956), p. 268
Ibid., p. 293.
Ralph Barton Perry, The Thought and Character of William James (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1935), volume I, pp. 674, 698.
James, The Will To Believe, p. 269.
Ibid., p. 270.
Ibid., p. 290.
Ibid., p. 265.
Ibid., p. 266n.
William James, Essays in Radical Empiricism (New York: Longmans, Green and Company, 1912), p. 94.
Pragmatism, p. 118.
The Will To Believe, p. 257.
Ibid., p. 259.
Ibid., p. 260.
Pragmatism, p. 114.
Perry, op. cit., I, p. 479.
James, Pragmatism, p. 114.
Ibid., p. 116.
Ibid., p. 118.
Some have sought to make this side of James’ philosophy explicit. See Cushing Strout, “The Unfinished Arch: William James and The Idea of History,” American Quarterly, Volume 13, Winter, 1961, pp. 505–515.
Existentialists and James both stress time, but James is optimistic in his conclusions. See Julius S. Bixler, “The Existentialists and William James,” The American Scholar, Volume 28, Winter, 1958–59, pp. 80–90.
Perry, op. cit., I, p. 84. For a strong criticism of the thesis that time is a sensation, see Gerald E. Myers, “William James On Time Perception.” Philosophy of Science, Volume 38, Spring, 1971, pp. 353–360.
William James, “The Perception of Time,” The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Volume XX, October, 1886, p. 375. This paper appears as the famous chapter on time in The Principles of Psychology.
The Pluralistic, Universe, p. 232.
Problems, p. 125.
Ibid., p. 70.
William James, Psychology: The Briefer Course, edited by Gordon Allport, New York: Harper Brothers, 1961, p. 333.
“The Perception of Time,” p. 377.
Psychology: The Briefer Course, p. 33.
Problems, p. 155.
“The Perception of Time,” p. 378.
Ibid.,p. 397.
Ibid., p. 388.
Ibid., p. 388, and p. 402.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1975 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Helm, B.P. (1975). William James on the Nature of Time. In: Whittemore, R.C. (eds) Studies in Process Philosophy II. Tulane Studies in Philosophy, vol 24. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1385-7_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-1385-7_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-247-1820-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-1385-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive