“On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings” by William James / Holland Kroese PHIL-1030-006

 “On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings”

   Holland Kroese PHIL-1030-006

    "On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings" is a text written in the year 1899, by William James. For background, William James was a man of many talents and trades. He was a pragmatist philosopher, a psychologist, an author, and an orator. He was born in 1842 and passed away in 1910. For context, this was a lecture given at Harvard critiquing human’s tendency to judge others’ lives by our own values. The main question posed throughout text is "How can we truly understand others without feeling what they feel?" (Side note: ideas very similar to ethnocentrism which wasn’t coined until 1906; James was ahead of his time) To start, William James argues that humans are fundamentally blind to the emotional significance others attach to their own lives. He says we often judge lives we don't understand, assuming they’re inferior or meaningless. He then urges us to develop empathy, humility, and open-mindedness toward others' joys and values. This is a great article by John Lachs, regarding human blindness. I like this essay because for one, sometimes philosophers say great things, but they do it in a way that is often hard to understand for many. Lachs breaks down and dissects James' main points in a clearly segmented, easily digestible way. It also sometimes helps to hear things in another person's voice to truly understand what is being said.  https://williamjamesstudies.org/human-blindness-john-lachs/

Throughout this work, William James makes a variety of different points and tells a few different anecdotes, along with stories from others to make his point that we are blind to others. James claims we decide how valuable or important something is based on how it makes us feel. That is made clear in this quote: “Our judgments concerning the worth of things, big or little, depend on the feelings the things arouse in us.” James notes that many of us focus so narrowly on our own lives that we ignore or misunderstand others’ experiences. Our judgments about other lives often lack depth and miss the emotional reality others live in. William James describes seeing clear-cut valleys and cabins as ugly and primitive (“unmitigated squalor”). But when a local man explains their pride in clearing the land, he realizes to them, the stumps and logs symbolize victory, safety, and independence. This quote by William James cements that point; “but, when they looked on the hideous stumps, what they thought of was personal victory. The chips, the girdled trees, and the vile split rails spoke of honest sweat, persistent toil and final reward. The cabin was a warrant of safety for self and wife and babes.” This means just because we don’t feel the meaning of something doesn’t mean it has none.    

James then tells another story. He recalls seeing children who wore lanterns from fishing boats under their coats; they felt joy and were having, despite appearing ridiculous to outsiders while stinking of tin, soot, and the sea. Their happiness had no clear purpose or productivity but it was internal and real. This means others’ inner joy may be invisible to us, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. You don’t always have to see to believe.

William James then brings forth a new idea he calls inner worlds. These are moments of deep feeling and reflection that outsiders might see/find meaningless. He uses famous authors to make this point clear. Poet, William Wordsworth: Felt moral and spiritual energy in natural scenery. Writer, Richard Jefferies: Had mystical, almost religious connection with nature. 

Poet, Walt Whitman: Felt unity with all people during something as average and boring to many as a ferry ride.

Next, James makes the claim that people often find profound meaning in painful or restricted conditions. For example, artist, Benvenuto Cellini found spiritual awakening while imprisoned. Similarly, author, Leo Tolstoy’s character, Pierre, found peace during war and imprisonment.

Finally, essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson found joy walking through snow puddles. 

James tells another story about, Argentinian author, W.H. Hudson's time in Patagonia. “In the state of mind I was in, thought had become impossible… I had undoubtedly gone back... The state seemed familiar... accompanied by a strong feeling of elation.” To others, Hudson's time in Patagonia was boring and pointless. To him, it was profound and peaceful. It proves how outsiders often miss the deep significance someone else feels in the moment.

James also notes the person who feels more may understand more. “Wherever there is conflict of opinion and difference of vision, we are bound to believe that the truer side is the side that feels the more, and not the side that feels the less.” This means sometimes emotions bring clarity, rather than logic.

Finally, James says we have drifted away from a world where we still value the simple things in life; he blames this on modern society. He says educated people may be desensitized to simple pleasures. Many of us chase complexity, intellectualism, and progress instead of “goods and joys” James warns: we become “stone-blind (emotionally/spiritually oblivious)” to the everyday beauty and stillness of life. James warns that intellectualism can numb us. If we lose touch with our capacity to enjoy “seeing, smelling, tasting, sleeping,” we lose something essential.

Author, Dwight Goodyear offers another point of view. He critiques Jame’s notion that our inability to feel what others feel leads to flawed judgments. It introduces the idea of a “fallacy of blindness,” where one assumes their perspective is universally applicable. Whether James or Goodyear is right, or whether there can even be a right or wrong is up to you. https://philosophicaleggs.com/88-the-fallacy-of-blindness/

To conclude, here are William James' main ideas and points to remember. Don’t judge what you can’t feel and don’t understand. Don’t lose your ability to enjoy the simple things in life. Although others’ lives may seem pointless from the outside, but they often have deep personal value to them. Approach other people with respect and restraint: “Hands off: neither the whole of truth nor the whole of good is revealed to any single observer”

Discussion Questions

• Do you feel people choose to stay blind to others’ experiences? Why or why not?
• Do you think it’s possible to ever truly understand another person’s emotions or values? Why or why not?
• What’s the danger in thinking our way of life is the only “right” one?
• Going off of that, can we live in a world where there is no real truth? Surely we cannot all possess our own, while still retaining functionality. Where is the line?

Slideshow Presentation

• https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1RX83sDPdZtgCrY20O5GueWllCF0leydmwRyvNAZjVRI/edit?slide=id.g34d085f047d_0_1335#slide=id.g34d085f047d_0_1335

Works Cited

• “On a Certain Blindness in Human Beings” by William James https://monadnock.net/james/blindness.html