From the author of American Philosophy: A Love Story, a compelling introduction to the life-affirming philosophy of William James

In 1895, William James, the father of American philosophy, delivered a lecture entitled “Is Life Worth Living?” It was no theoretical question for James, who had contemplated suicide during an existential crisis as a young man a quarter century earlier. Indeed, as John Kaag writes, “James’s entire philosophy, from beginning to end, was geared to save a life, his life”―and that’s why it just might be able to save yours, too. Sick Souls, Healthy Minds is an absorbing introduction to James’s life and thought that shows why the founder of pragmatism and empirical psychology can still speak so directly and profoundly to anyone struggling to make a life worth living.

1. Determinism and Despair

2. Freedom and Life

3. Psychology and the Healthy Mind

4. Consciousness and Transcendence

5. Truth and Consequences

6. Wonder and Hope

Review

"Finalist for the PROSE Award in Philosophy, Association of American Publishers"

"One of Next Big Idea Club's Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books of Spring"

"Characteristically elegant."―John Williams, New York Times Book Review

“James would have liked this book. . . . James’s ideas have rippled through the past century more powerfully than those of any other American thinker. Kaag’s little book reminds us why.”―James T. Kloppenberg, Washington Post

“An excellent introduction to William James and his philosophy.”―John Banville, Literary Review

"Pithy and exacting.”―Heller McAlpin, Wall Street Journal

“[A] lucid and absorbing book.”―Andrew Stark, Times Literary Supplement

About the Author

John Kaag, the author of American Philosophy: A Love Story and Hiking with Nietzsche, is professor of philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Twitter @JohnKaag