
William James
Ideas de William James
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Fundador del pragmatismo: es verdad aquella creencia que nos resulta útil.
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Defiende también un empirismo radical: naturaleza y mente son inseparables, por lo que no es posible un conocimiento objetivo.
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En el terreno ético, se identifica también lo bueno con lo útil.
Citas
“Pragmatism, on the other hand, asks its usual question. "Grant an idea or belief to be true," it says, "what concrete difference will its being true make in anyone's actual life? How will the truth be realized? What experiences will be different from those which would obtain if the belief were false? What, in short, is the truth's cash-value in experiential terms?”
“Truth happens to an idea. It becomes true, is made true by events. Its verity is in fact an event, a process: the process namely of its verifying itself, its veri-fication. Its validity is the process of its valid-ation”
Obras
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Pragmatismo
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Principios de psicología
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La voluntad de creer
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Ensayos sobre empirismo radical