William James - Essays in Radical Empiricism (1909)

5 Sourced Quotes

View all William James Quotes

The 'I think' which Kant said must be able to accompany all my objects, is the 'I breathe' which actually does accompany them.

William James

To be conscious means not simply to be, but to be reported, known, to have awareness of one's being added to that being.

William James

The "through-and-through" universe seems to suffocate me with its infallible impeccable all-pervasiveness. Its necessity, with no possibilities; its relations, with no subjects, make me feel as if I had entered into a contract with no reserved rights … It seems too buttoned-up and white-chokered and clean-shaven a thing to speak for the vast slow-breathing unconscious Kosmos with its dread abysses and its unknown tides.

William James

To be radical, an empiricism must neither admit into its constructions any element that is not directly experienced, nor exclude from them any element that is directly experienced.

William James

The "through-and-through" universe seems to suffocate me with its infallible impeccable allpervasiveness.... It seems too buttoned-up and white-chokered and clean-shaven a thing to speak in the name of the vast slow-breathing unconscious Kosmos with its dread abysses and its unknown tides.

William James