Did somebody say James's ideas were pulled out of the American sky? Who even thinks that's possible?
Emerson was a family friend. He read Eastern texts too. Does that mean we should have less respect for his thought - or more respect? You're just being contrary for the sake of being contrary, Marsha, even going so far as to dispute a claim made by nobody. There seems to be no point or purpose in this except to be as negative as possible. Get a life. > From: [email protected] > Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 14:10:37 -0400 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [MD] william James. > > > > > Greetings again, > > James's biography (p.126) clearly states he had read and reread > Upanishad and Buddhist texts, texts that belonged to his father. > This would have been around 1870, while still in his twenties. > > Here's a list of some of the books: > > Modern Buddhist - Alabaster > Religion des Buddha (Vol.1) - Koeppen > Le Buddhisme - Taine > Weltauffas der Buddhisten - Bastian > Brahma Somej: Four Lectures - Sen > > (William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism > by Robert D. Richardson) > > James's ideas of pure experience weren't pulled out of the American sky. > > > > > > > > > On Sep 26, 2010, at 2:00 PM, david buchanan wrote: > > > > > As a matter of fact, I just finished "The Metaphysical Club". I thought it > > was pretty weak, actually. Don't think I've ever read a more disappointing > > secondary source on pragmatism. Somehow, it was like hearing a bad > > impersonation of Rorty. The author seemed to hit every note that Rorty > > hits, as if following a playbook. But the biographical stuff is what > > interested me anyway. As you may have noticed, I've also been reading > > Robert Richardson's biography of James. It's far more substantial. > > Richardson not only read everything James ever wrote, including private > > letters, he also read everything James read. Richardson rocks. > > > > One thing I learned from "The Metaphysical Club" was that free speech > > rights didn't become what they are today until about 1925 and this came > > about - in part - because of the club. It's that many cognizers idea again. > > Oliver Wendell Holmes served on the supreme court and he had a legal > > version of this view even back in the 1870's. John Dewey would later go on > > to help found the ACLU and the NAACP. My point simply being that pragmatism > > has been good for democracy and liberalism. > > > > > > > >> Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 09:36:46 -0700 > >> From: [email protected] > >> To: [email protected] > >> Subject: Re: [MD] william James. > >> > >> That does sound fascinating Marsha. I always like to be shown books that > >> deal with what I'm thinking and discussing, and if I do so say, this book > >> suggestion you share seems to point to us - the MoQ Discuss- and our little > >> "metaphysical club" and our discussions. > >> > >> Pat on the backs all around for us being so "cutting edge". > >> > >> woo-hoo! > >> > >> John > >> > >> On Sat, Sep 25, 2010 at 11:28 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > >>> > >>> Here might be a book worth reading, 'The Metaphysical Club: A Story of > >>> Ideas in America': > >>> > >>> > >>> It’s the liberal belief that there are no absolutes and no Truth. That’s > >>> why relativism is the central idea of today’s “culture war.” > >>> > >>> They say there are only our own personal “values” that reflect our > >>> interests, prejudices, and desires. > >>> > >>> This idea seemed to explode onto the American scene in the 1960s, with the > >>> moral code, “If it feels good, do it.” But its roots lie farther back in > >>> American history. > >>> > >>> After the Civil War, American philosophers (centered at Harvard) began to > >>> build the intellectual and moral system that produced the Clinton/Baby > >>> Boomer ethos, the kind that is never “judgmental” and disputes the meaning > >>> of the word “is.” > >>> > >>> The abandonment of both religious and philosophical absolutes was a > >>> worldwide phenomenon. The American style of relativism came to be called > >>> “pragmatism.” > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> http://www.massnews.com/2002_editions/03_Mar/302harvard.htm > >>> > >>> > >>> ___ > >>> > >>> > >>> Moq_Discuss mailing list > >>> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > >>> Archives: > >>> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > >>> http://moq.org/md/archives.html > >>> > >> Moq_Discuss mailing list > >> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > >> Archives: > >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > >> http://moq.org/md/archives.html > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > > Archives: > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > > > > ___ > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
