James

no justification at all, either intellectual or pas-
sional. So James urges the course which is both
adventurous and profitable, a positive belief in
freedom, in the triumph of righteousness, and
in the God which guarantees them. Such a God
cannot be equated with the whole of things,—
both moral evil and human freedom must lie
outside him; but he may be worshiped without
compromise of conscience, and he may be trusted
as offering assurance of an ultimate victory to
which the moral forces of mankind themselves
decisively contribute.

This volume also presents in a brilliant and
persuasive style the author's moral ideals; his
acceptance of the humane and individualistic tra-
dition of liberalism ("The Moral Philosopher
and the Moral Life"); his Puritan inheritance,
revealing itself in his hatred of evil, and in his
unqualified subordination of esthetic to moral
standards ("The Dilemma of Determinism");
and his gospel of strenuousness and heroism ("Is
Life Worth Living?"). The years immediately
before and after the publication of this book
were the years of James's greatest preoccupa-
tion with the problems of American life. In 1894
and 1898 he scandalized his medical colleagues
by opposing bills then before the Massachusetts
legislature which would have compelled Spir-
itualists and Christian Scientists to qualify as
regular physicians in order to employ their own
peculiar methods. He was moved to take this
step by his belief in the results and the future
possibilities of "mental healing," by his desire
to deliver science from its own doctrinaire and
bureaucratic tendencies, and by his habit of de-
fending unpopular causes, especially when they
were repugnant to his own personal tastes and
class prejudices. The outbreak of the Spanish-
American War in 1898 made a profound im-
pression on him. James was most influenced in
his political views by his lifelong friend E. L.
Godkin [#.#.], who was at this time editor of
the Nation and of the New York Evening Post
He became engaged, together with Godkin and
others, in a vigorous campaign against McKin-
ley's policy in the Philippines and against the
whole imperialistic enterprise upon which the
country seemed to be embarked. Imperialism to
him signified a disloyalty to the older American
ideals, a worship of mere "bigness and great-
ness/' and a hypocritical concealment of motives
of plunder under the pretence of spreading "civi-
lization." The contemporary Dreyfus scandal in
France, and the earlier Venezuelan message of
Cleveland aroused similar sentiments, and im-
pressed James with the menace of war, and with

James

the terrible power of the human emotions which
it liberated.

In the summer of 1896 James undertook an
extensive lecturing tour, in which he gave the
lectures afterward published under the title of
Talks to Teachers on Psychology: and to Stu-
dents on Some of Life's Ideals (1899). Through
this tour, together with a trip to California in

1898, he became acquainted with his own coun-
try. He felt both the "greatness of Chicago"
and the "flatness" of the Chautauquan "middle-
class paradise." His most notable impression,
however, was a sense of the wealth of signifi-
cance and heroism in "the common life of com-
mon men." This impression inspired the two
essays which best express his social creed, "On
a Certain Blindness in Human Beings" and
"What Makes A Life Significant?" Their theme
is the inherent preciousness of each unique hu-
man life, viewed from within; the unsuspected
presence under a drab exterior, of adventure,
courage, and emotional warmth; and hence the
need of tolerance and imaginative sympathy in
human relations. In these ideas James's philo-
sophical "pluralism" and his practical democ-
racy found common ground.

As early as 1897, with a course of Gifford
Lectures at Edinburgh in prospect, James had
begun to collect material on the psychology and
philosophy of religion. It was with the expecta-
tion of completing the lectures for delivery in the
spring of 1900 that he sailed for Europe in July

1899. In the previous month, however, while
walking in his beloved Adirondack wilderness,
he had lost his way and overstrained his heart.
This accident, combined with the cumulative
nervous fatigue of several years of extraordi-
nary activity, brought about a serious break-
down. The next year was spent at Bad-Nauheim
or in visits to Switzerland, England, and South-
ern France, seeking now by cures and now by
rest to recover his health. Although rarely able
to work more than two or three hours a day,
and that often in bed, he was ready with his first
series of lectures in the spring of 1901. The
achievement was the more remarkable in that his
material was gathered from a great variety of
documentary sources, at a time when he was not
only crippled, but also often without a settled
abode or convenient library facilities. The suc-
cess of the lectures had a most favorable effect
upon his health, and he was able during the fol-
lowing winter to conduct a course at Harvard
on the psychology of religion and at the same
time prepare his second course of Gifford Lec-
tures. These were delivered in the Spring of
1902 and shortly afterw'ard both series were pub-

596