A Pluralistic Universe Section II (Lectures V-Appendix C) Summary and Analysis

Lecture V - The Compounding of Consciousness

In lecture V, James discusses Josiah Royce and his empirical approach to the human relationship with the divine. Royce asserts that ignorance is in fact 'inattention.' He goes on to state that human beings are limited because we are only a piece of the 'absolute will.' He then posits that limitations in will cause inattention and thus ignorance of total experience. James suggests that the concept of the 'whole' is a convenience of conception and as such behaves more as an 'each' than as a 'whole'. He continues that 'each' and 'whole' are two different 'levels of witness.' Because of this difference James argues for the pluralist position.

Lecture VI - Bergson and His Critique of Intellectualism...