Biography
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1. Introduction
The experiences and tensions of William James's life are the source of his philosophical insights. No man has seen better the deep connection between philosophy and lived experience, and James's own life experience strained by powerful conflicts make his life story, and therefore his philosophy, a unique exploration. He was a brilliant man, raised in an exceptional and unique family, whose religious education ran headlong into his scientific pursuits, whose personal crises of depression and anxiety along with his own curative prescriptions were profoundly influential in his work.
Few American academics, not to mention that subset known as "philosophers," have had the biographical attention heaped upon William James since his death in the summer of 1910. It is no exaggeration to note that dozens of books, chapters, essays, and websites have focused on the details of his remarkable life (this does not include the hundreds of works that speak primarily to his ideas). This is no accident, for James grew up in an exciting time in American history, in a fascinating and impressive family, and with relations and conditions that make James's personal history grand fodder for biography.
Source: Talisse RB, Hester DM. 2004. Lives in transition: experiencing James. In On James, chap 1. Belmont: Wadsworth Publishing. pp. 1-2. [Adapted by permission of the authors.]