ABSTRACT
The American psychologist and philosopher William James regarded the monism-pluralism issue as the most significant of all philosophical dilemmas. From early in his career James repeatedly declared his allegiance to pluralistic perspectives partly because he equated monism with absolutism, a position he regarded as a disease of philosophic thought. The first chapter explores the nature of monism and pluralism along with James’s preference for pluralistic perspectives. Following a brief description of differences between the two orientations, the chapter outlines the implications of monism to be covered in subsequent chapters, including monistic approaches to causality, methodology, values, and the nature of reality.
