Reading William James in our Turbulent T(AI)ms 2500-EN-CS-E-06

The course consists of close readings of the original texts and commentaries and ample and open discussions in class. We will value slow pace, dialogue, erring and uncertainty, and recognize that the path is as important as the outcomes. In short we expect to arrive at valuable reinterpretations and conclusions, but also at sensitizing us to see the current problems in a novel way.
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How, with the rapid developments of technology mediating our human contacts, LLMs, and a growing importance of exact sciences not to slip into abstract ‘knowledge about’ and retain vital ‘knowledge by acquaintance’ of the world? How to guard our true human connections from the process of the “everlasting slip, slip, slip, of direct acquaintance into knowledge-about, until at last nothing is left about which the knowledge can be supposed to obtain” (William James, 1909/1978, p. 19)?
This course is an invitation:
 to slow down and think about these issues, guided by writings of one of the founders of psychology;
 to rethink basic psychological concepts to make them into tools for thinking about modern challenges for cognitive sciences and psychology;
 to play, using the collaborative learning techniques (e.g., jigsaw activity, world café method);
 to be wrong and probe the diversity in our concept, perceptions and views.
William James is one of the founders of psychology; his influence is recognized by schools as diverse as behaviorism and phenomenologically oriented enactivism (Heft, 2001). The course consists of close readings of his original texts and commentaries and ample and open discussions in class.
We will start with James’s view on basic issues in psychology, such as: i) the relational nature of perception; ii) the importance and structure of experience; iii) the relation of concepts and language to perceiving and acting. Subsequently we will “zoom out” to reflect on James’s views on iv) the place of psychology in the landscape of science, and v) the place of science in human life as well as James’s general attitude towards living in society.
We will aim at understanding them in the light of developments in psychology and the cognitive sciences and novel theoretical and pragmatic needs. We claim that such deep reanalysis is required if these fields of study are to be useful in facing the challenges posed by technological transformations of our environment, human relations, and communication.
The course will value slow pace, dialogue, erring and uncertainty, and recognize that the path is as important as the outcomes. We expect to arrive at valuable reinterpretations and conclusions (which will hopefully culminate in participant’s final essays), but we also aim at sensitizing the participants’ perceptions to novel relations and novel organizations of their experiential fields.
The course is consulted with a philosopher of mind and cognitive science, Dr Gui Sanches de Oliveira from the University of Murcia, who has been using James’s work to address many contemporary issues in his papers. He will join us, most probably in person, for 2 or 3 classes.

Learning activities:
We envision going SLOW, i.e., reading and analyzing maximum one short original text by William James per class. Students are responsible for getting acquainted with the original texts and will be asked to comment on them and pose questions. Additionally, some of the texts might be summarized in class, together with their published commentaries. Beginning from the mid-semester, participants will be encouraged to scout for the topics of their short essays, which will be due 10 days before the end of the exam session.
To encourage discussion and ensure inclusive engagement of all participants, the course will employ a variety of collaborative learning techniques, including TWSP (think–write–pair–share), jigsaw activity, and the world café method.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge (K_W01, K_W03, K_W05, K_W06):
 Students understand the roots of radical empiricism and its contribution to different theoretical paradigms in cognitive science.
 Students appreciate James’s views on the role and place of experience and emotions in psychological and cognitive sciences and the consequences for these views for the qualitative and quantitative methodology in the modern cognitive and psychological sciences.
 Students appreciate the types of knowledge available to scientists as human beings and the social-practical conditioning of these types of knowledge.

Skills (K_U01, K_U05, K-U14):
 Students can critically read original texts, understand their historical underpinnings and modern interpretations.
 Students can identify philosophical, methodological, and ethical underpinnings of cognitive and psychological research, and can gain novel tools for assessing the societal impacts of emerging technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence).
 Students can appreciate the role of first- and second-person experience and factor them into research design methods.

Competences (K_K01, K_K03, K_K04, K_K06, K_K07):
 Students learn to express their doubts in a friendly class environment and learn to create fostering environments for others to express their doubts.
 Students appreciate various points of view and seek possibilities of their co-existence for constructive descriptions and solutions to theoretical debates and socially significant issues.

Assessment criteria

a) Assessment methods: class participation, presentation, essay
b) Components of the final grade and their weights: essay 40%; class participation 30%; class presentation 30%; additional points can be earned by submitting reactions/points for discussion for each text.
c) Grading scale
over 50%: 3
over 60%: 3+
over 70%: 4,
over 80%: 4+
over 90%: 5
d) Requirements for retaking the assessment: for class absence (more than 2) 1-2 pages reaction paper on the topic of the given class is required
e) Exams in the exam session
i) Requirements for taking the exam: N/A
ii) Possibility (and requirements) for retaking the exam in case of a positive grade: essay can be improved if the grade is not satisfactory
iii) Early Exam Session (“Zerówka”): N/A

Attendance rules:
Students may miss 1 class without justification and 1 class with justifiable excuse. For more classes missed additional reaction paper is required.

Bibliography

Main Topics of the course:
1. Introduction: The structure and organization of the course. Some history: On William, Henry, and Alice.
2. William James on Psychology:
a. Relations (direct perception of relations; relational Self)
b. Experience
c. Agency
d. Emotions
e. Psychology as a Science / Method
3. William James on Science
a. The place of Science in Society
b. Methods / Radical Empiricism
c. Limitations
4. William James on Life
a. Plurality
b. Spirituality
c. Aesthetics & Coherence
5. The Legacy of William James
6. Summary of the implications for the perception of modern challenges

Readings (selected, the full list will be adjusted to and available for each edition of the class); [Relevance for Topics in square brackets]

Sources:
James, W. (1879/1896). The sentiment of rationality. In W. James, The will to believe and other essays in popular philosophy (pp. 63–110). Longmans, Green and Co. (Reprinted from: Mind, Vol. 4, No. 15 (Jul., 1879), pp. 317-346) [3a]
James, W. (1884). Absolutism and Empiricism. Mind, Vol. 9, No. 34, pp. 281-286. [2e, 3b]
James, W. (1884). What is an emotion? Mind, 9(34), 188–205. [1d]
James, W. (1890). The Principles of Psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. [Fragments, 2a-e]
James, W. (1895/1978). The knowing of things together. In E. R. Hilgard (Ed.), American psychology in historical perspective (pp. 37–51). American Psychological Association. [2a]
James, W. (1904). A World of Pure Experience. The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, Vol. 1, No. 20, pp. 533-543. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2011912?seq=4 [1b]
James W. 1905. The thing and its relations. J. Phil. Psychol. Sci. Methods 2, 29–41. (doi:10.2307/2011699) [2a]
James W. 1905. The Place of Affectional Facts in a World of Pure Experience. The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and Scientific Methods, Vol. 2, No. 11, pp. 281-287 https://www.jstor.org/stable/2011859 [2d]
James W. (1909/1978). The meaning of truth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. With Preface. Esp. Reprint of The Function of Cognition (1885). [2a, 2b]
James W. (1911/1916). Some problems of philosophy. New York, NY: Longmans, Green, and Co. [2b, 4b]
James W. (1898/1992). A Pluralistic universe. William James: writings 1902–1910. Washington, DC: Library of America.
James, W. (1903/1907). “Lecture II: What pragmatism means”. In W. James, Pragmatism: A new name for some old ways of thinking (pp. 43–81). Longmans, Green and Co. [3b]
James, W. (1897/1956). “The Will to Believe”. In The will to believe: And other essays in popular philosophy, and human immortality (Vol. 291). Courier Corporation.
James, W. (1899/1983). “On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings”. In Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (Vol. 12). Harvard University Press.
James, W. (1899 /1983). “What Makes a Life Significant”. In Talks to Teachers on Psychology and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals (Vol. 12). Harvard University Press.

Commentaries:
Dember, W.N. (1990). William James on Sensation and Perception. Psychol. Sci. 1, 163–166. [4c]
Heft, H. (2001). Ecological Psychology in Context: James Gibson, Roger Barker, and the Legacy of William James’s Radical Empiricism. New York, NY: Psychology Press. [2a, 4]
Popova, Y.B. & Rączaszek-Leonardi J. (2020) Enactivism and Ecological Psychology: The Role of Bodily Experience in Agency. Front. Psychol. 11:539841. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.539841 [2b, 2c]
Sanchez de Oliveira, G. (2018). Emotion as a Form of Perception: Why William James was not a Jamesian. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2kn6g303 [2b, 2d]
Coon, D. J. (1996). “One Moment in the World's Salvation”: Anarchism and the Radicalization of William James. The Journal of American History, 83(1), 70-99.
Sheehey, B. (2022). Reparative agency and commitment in William James’ pragmatism. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 30(5), 818-836.
Dziobkowski, B. (2010). Filozofia jako metoda–James i Wittgenstein. Przegląd Filozoficzny, 4(76), 247-264.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig (1953). Philosophical Investigations. New York, NY, USA: Wiley-Blackwell. Edited by G. E. M. Anscombe. (fragments)

Notes

Term 2026Z:

Students must respect the principles of academic integrity. Cheating and plagiarism (including copying work from other students, internet or other sources) are serious violations that are punishable and instructors are required to report all cases to the administration.
Students are required to read the original texts by William James, without the use of LLM-based tools. These tools can be used if the students feel comfortable with the model’s lack of transparency and copyright violations, however no text generated by such a model can be submitted as an essay nor as a reaction to text nor a presentation in class. These have to be original texts created by the participants.

Prerequisites:
Interest in conceptual issues in cognitive science and psychology. Interest and engagement in contemporary debates and social implications of cognitive science would be an asset. Willingness to search for information independently, willingness to bounce your ideas off of others, willingness to formulate ideas together with others.

Remarks:
Being open to indeterminacy of certain issues is important, as is openness to different practices of dealing with indeterminacy. The motto of the class is “Be kind to others for everybody is fighting their battles”.