What William James thinks about humility

@william-james · 56 positions · On ppll ↗

American philosopher and psychologist (1842 to 1910); studied at Harvard; author of The Principles of Psychology (1890), The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) and Pragmatism (1907).

William James did not write this page.

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Only William James on humility. See everyone on humility

4 dated positions, c. 1879–1896 to c. 1906–1907, in their own words. Our reading of what William James has said — not written or endorsed by them.

4 positions so far — this page is not yet offered to search engines.

1. c. 1906–1907

   Our readingBuilding ethics around the question of merit is unrealistic

   Their wordsTo make our human ethics revolve about the question of 'merit' is a piteous unreality—God alone can know our merits, if we have any.

   ↗Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book

3. c. 1906–1907

   Our readingCommon sense, science and philosophy each suit a different sphere, none known to be truer absolutely

   Their wordsCommon sense is BETTER for one sphere of life, science for another, philosophic criticism for a third; but whether either be TRUER absolutely, Heaven only knows.

   ↗Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book

5. c. 1906–1907

   Our readingWe must live by today's truths and be ready to call them false tomorrow

   Their wordsMeanwhile we have to live to-day by what truth we can get to-day, and be ready to-morrow to call it falsehood.

   ↗Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking (1907)gutenberg.org All 20 from this book

7. c. 1879–1896

   Our readingHolding any opinion as never open to revision is a tremendously mistaken attitude

   Their wordsI live, to be sure, by the practical faith that we must go on experiencing and thinking over our experience, for only thus can our opinions grow more true; but to hold any one of them—I absolutely do not care which—as if it never could be reinterpretable or corrigible, I believe to be a tremendously mistaken attitude, and I think that the whole history of philosophy will bear me out.

   ↗The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1879-1896)gutenberg.org All 19 from this book