I believe that the later development in James’s thought concerning the nature of temporal succession answers some crucial difficulties of Bergson’s theory. An important inclusion in this discussion will be a comparison of James’s early thought on this subject, found in The Principles of Psychology, and Bergson’s theory of time. I shall explore in this paper the development of James’s thought concerning the nature of time. This later theory of James’s bears close resemblance to the epochal theory of time offered by Whitehead in Process and Reality. However, there are several difficulties with this view, difficulties which led James to the theory that experience, and time itself, must proceed in discrete units. James, like Bergson, had understood the flow of experience as being continuous. Equally important is the close resemblance of their respective theories of time. However, the similarities between the work of James and Whitehead are not restricted to the latter’s doctrine of prehensions. As Lowe says, "If we persevere in after reading James’s psychology and radical empiricism, it is probably useless to take Process and Reality in hand" (3:125). Lowe argued convincingly that James’s insistence, in these works, that transitions in the flow of consciousness are felt relations paved the way for Whitehead’s doctrine of prehensions. This becomes evident upon reading chapter IX of The Principles of Psychology, "The Stream of Thought," and James’s later work Essays in Radical Empiricism. Lowe’s point is well founded, for William James’s works contain many insights which have important affinities to Whitehead’s philosophy of organism. Some years ago Victor Lowe stressed the importance of understanding William James’s philosophy and psychology in order to understand the metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead (3:125). The author explores the nature of time in the thought of William James and compares his solutions with those of Whitehead. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. Process Studies is published quarterly by the Center for Process Studies, 1325 N. The following article appeared in Process Studies, pp. at Michigan State University in 1981 and is currently a doctoral student at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois.
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