Essays in Radical Empiricism

Essays in Radical Empiricism is a posthumously published collection of works by American philosopher William James. The book presents James's theory of radical empiricism, which posits that the relations between things are as real as the things themselves. This theory suggests that the world has a continuous structure, with relations experienced directly, without needing any external support.12

Radical empiricism excludes elements not derived from experience and considers relations to be experienceable. While James saw no logical connection between radical empiricism and pragmatism, his work in this area was published in 1912. The concept of "stream of consciousness," which describes the flow of thoughts and impressions, was also first used by James in his psychological writings.31456