19. Knower and Known

Wikipedia: “William James was an American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James was a leading thinker of the late nineteenth century, one of the most influential U.S. philosophers, and has been labelled the ‘Father of American psychology.’”

So when I found on my bookshelf a book of essays by James with the title, The Meaning of Truth, I thought that we might discover another clue for finding liberating truth.

On the back cover of that book are these words: “Objective truth exists, James argues, but it can be known only in terms of experience; truth isn’t ‘out there’ waiting to be discovered. And knowledge derives from a process of inquiry (see CLUES #3) in which a chain of mental and physical intermediaries connects thought and things.” In the Preface of this book, James says, “Experience, as we know, has ways of boiling over, and making us correct our present formulas.”

In his essay on the relationship between the knower and known, James describes the images in his mind as he contemplates moving from his library to Harvard Hall, a Harvard University classroom building, for his lecture. If, on the other hand, he were to lead you to Harvard Hall and tell you about its history and functions, and if that corresponded closely to his previous mental images of Harvard Hall, there would be cognizance of reality. “Knowledge of sensible realities,” concludes James, “thus comes to life inside the tissue of experience.” The starting point was the knower; the terminus, the known.

As I read James’s insight about the meaning of truth, I experienced both a recognition of this insight as well as a language with which to express it. The key words for me are these: “Knowledge … comes to life inside the tissue of experience.”

If, in my advocacy of serious dialogue, I have reached a level of passion about its importance and potential, which I have attempted to express in my writing, that is just fine. However, if a reader finds in a serious exchange with someone in which differences of opinion are sorted out empathetically, and all of a sudden that reader feels a bridge to have been forged and a bonding for collaborative building, then the reader has found in that experience knowledge of a truth that transcends simply reading my words.

Q: What helps you to be confident about the truth that shapes your life?