Ignas K. Skrupskelis

The 12th and final volume of the letters with family, friends and colleagues, from 1908 to the last written 5 days before the death of William James on August 26, 1910 at 68 years of age. Of course, the founder of philosophical pragmatism, and experimental psychology, was often ill. Although his final collapse was in the Spring of 1910, he managed a voyage and travels in Europe -- to Paris and Bad-Nauheim seeking relief from the pain in his chest. At the end, he was an invalid, barely able to manage simple entries in his diary. He boarded a steamer to Montreal, and then again to his home in Chocorua (NH), where he died in the arms of his wife.

We have come to depend upon the remarkable epistolary talents of the James family for insight into the 19th century -- resources for historians, biographers, and critics. While he spent most of his adult life teaching at Harvard, William was well-traveled and earned an M.D. degree.

William James interacted with a wide array of writers, characters, and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather Ralph Waldo Emerson, his godson William James Sidis, as well as Charles Peirce, Bertrand Russell, Josiah Royce, Ernst Mach, John Dewey, Macedonio Fernández, Walter Lippmann, Ferdinand Schiller, Mark Twain, Horatio Alger, Jr., and Henri Bergson. He met Sigmund Freud at Clark University in 1909. Included here is correspondence with French philosopher Emile Boutroux, and German pragmatist, Julius Goldstein. We may never see again such a golden age of letter-writing. Will "blogs" and face-books leave a dependable "historical record" of events?

In this brief period of James' life, three major professional milestones occured. Delivery of lectures at Oxford, published as "A Pluralistic Universe". Publication of "The Meaning of Truth", which defended pragmatism. The textbook, "Some Problems of Philosophy" was actually published after his death.

Of particular significance is the evidence that different readers interpreted the same book in very different--pluralistic and diverse--ways. We know this from the fact that James sent numerous complimentary copies of his books and received thoughtful responses recorded here.… (altro)