The Letters of William James, Vol. 1James, William
General
The Letters of William James, Vol. 1
James, William
Intellectuals -- United States; James, William, 1842-1910; Philosophers -- United States; Psychologists -- United States
Two months later James said in a letter to Mrs. Gibbens: "It is singular
how I'm learning every day now how the thought of his comment on my
experiences has hitherto formed an integral part of my daily
consciousness, without my having realized it at all. I interrupt myself
incessantly now in the old habit of imagining what he will say when I
tell him this or that thing I have seen or heard."
* * * * *
James remained in London until mid-February of 1883, and took advantage
of the opportunity to see more of certain men there--among them
Shadworth Hodgson, Edmund Gurney, Croom Robertson, Frederick Pollock,
Leslie Stephen, Carveth Reid, and Francis Galton. His eyes were
troubling him again, but he did some writing on psychology. After paying
another short visit to Paris, he sailed for home in March.
IX
1883-1890
_Writing the "Principles of Psychology"--Psychical Research--The
Place at Chocorua--The Irving Street House--The Paris Psychological
Congress of 1889_
JAMES had now found his feet, professionally, as well as in other ways.
He strode ahead on the next stage of his journey with a firmness of
which he would have been incapable in the seventies, and carried a heavy
burden of work forward, with never a long halt and without ever setting
it down, until he had finished the two large volumes of the "Principles
of Psychology" in 1890. The previous decade had counted steadily for
inward clarification, for health and for confidence. He was no longer
harassed by serious illnesses and pursued by the spectre of possible
invalidism. Marriage, parenthood--these immense events in a man's
spiritual journey--had happened for him within the last four years and
had brought him new loves and ambitions. He was no longer perplexed by
misgivings about his aims and abilities, but had arrived at the
conception of his treatise on psychology and had begun to formulate its
chapters. He had become a very successful teacher, and might fairly have
suspected himself of being an inspiring one. His work was beginning to
be well known outside the halls of his own University.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account