Wedited by Gordon Allport "William James is a towering figure in the history of American thought-without doubt the foremost psychologist this country has produced. His depiction of mental life is faithful, vital, subtle.... "The problems he tackles have ultimate sweep. Lesser authors sidestep them. James knew that his answers could be only tentative. He justified his ten- tativeness by evolving a bold, wholly American, philosophy of pragmatism. Answers to basic riddles, he argued, can be validated only by their fruitfulness. Do they bear lively consequences for thought and action? Since the slices and cleavages we impose upon life are arbitrary we must not expect an answer valid under one set of circumstances to be necessarily valid under another. Hence James was not afraid of contra- diction. The only way to erect a self-consistent theory is for one to blind oneself to the magnificent variety of mental life.... "The reader of the