6 h 29 minAudiobook7 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What makes a belief true: the comfort it brings, or the way it stands up to experience?
In The Meaning of Truth, William James asks what we mean when we say an idea agrees with reality. These essays explore his claim that truth is something ideas earn through use and testing. For James, agreement is not a mysterious bond between thought and thing. It means guidance we can follow through experience.
But his critics hear something troubling: does usefulness give us permission to believe whatever pleases us? James answers that charge and defends pragmatism against the accusation of wishful thinking. The stakes reach into ordinary life: how we check beliefs, what counts as evidence, and why we trust ideas we have never tested ourselves.
What you’ll discover
- Truth put to work Explore why James asks what an idea lets us use, test, and live with.
- Belief checked against experience Consider the gap between beliefs we have verified and those we could verify.
- Agreement with reality Follow James as he explains truth through the guidance ideas offer in experience.
- More than wishful thinking Meet the objections that press James to explain what usefulness does and does not mean.
- Knowing without mystery Discover radical empiricism, where likeness, difference, and connections belong within experience itself.
Who will love it
For readers who love exploring belief, knowledge and evidence, and anyone curious about pragmatism and how ideas are tested in experience.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Truth is what ideas earn by working
- A belief must be checked in experience
- Agreement with reality means guidance through experience
- Critics misread pragmatism as wishful thinking
- Knowing is part of experience, not a mystery
- The argument has lasted and still divides readers
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 29 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 7 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
eBooks and audiobooks open right away. Download EPUB or PDF, or send the book to your Kindle. Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
Read and hear El significado de la verdad in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
El significado de la verdad
by William James · 1909
William James defends truth as something ideas earn in experience, and asks how we can check our beliefs.
Challenging5–10 hours to read25 languages
Excellent
- Read or listen
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
The Meaning of Truth is a book of essays by William James, the American psychologist and philosopher. It came out in 1909 as a sequel to his lectures called Pragmatism.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Truth is what ideas earn by working
James begins with a plain claim. A true idea is one that we can use, test and live with, and a false idea is one that fails us when we try it. He does not say that anything comforting is true. He says that the difference between true and false must show up somewhere in experience, or it is no difference at all.
His method comes from a rule he took from Charles Peirce. To understand an idea, ask what practical difference it would make if it were true. If two ideas lead to exactly the same results in every possible experience, then arguing over them is empty. If they lead to different results, then the difference is where their meaning lives.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about El significado de la verdad
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Meaning of Truth about?
It is a book of essays in which William James defends and explains his pragmatic theory of truth. He argues that an idea is true when it can be verified and when it guides us successfully through experience.
What is the pragmatic theory of truth?
It says that the truth of an idea lies in its practical consequences. A true belief leads us well among real things, can be checked by experience, and fits with the rest of what we know.
Is The Meaning of Truth a sequel to Pragmatism?
Yes. James published it in 1909 as a follow-up to his 1907 lectures called Pragmatism. It collects essays written in reply to critics who had misunderstood or attacked his view of truth.
The author
William James
1842–1910 · American philosopher and psychologist
William James (1842–1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist. Born in New York City, he taught at Harvard University in Massachusetts. He wrote The Principles of Psychology (1890), The Will to Believe (1897), The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), and Pragmatism (1907). He died in Chocorua, New Hampshire.
More by William James
All 5 booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
