Explore how identity, purpose, and reality interlink in a bold view of the world. This edition presents a clear, approachable look at Josiah Royce’s philosophy, focusing on how real individuals embody purpose and how harmony between will and world gives meaning to life.

In these passages, the author argues that real individuals are unique embodiments of will and that the world must express purpose to be truly real. He contrasts imagined pure thought with lived experience, emphasizing that a being who satisfies an inner will is the only one who can recognize true individuality. The discussion moves to the nature of reality and how our ideas relate to the facts we investigate, suggesting that meaning ties ideas to outer realities in a dynamic, purposeful world. The text also delves into how consciousness perceives time, introducing the idea of a “specious present” that shapes our grasp of sequences and events.

Learn Royce’s teleological view of individuality as a unique expression of will and purpose.

See how reality is linked to the fulfillment of aims and to the harmony between thought and facts.

Understand the idea of the specious present and how consciousness grasps sequences of events.

Explore how ideas, even when uncertain, connect meaningfully to the world beyond our minds.

Ideal for readers curious about the foundations of metaphysical thought, this edition helps readers weigh questions about what is real and why, through a rigorous yet accessible lens.

About the Author

John J. McDermott, author of the introduction to this new edition, is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Head of Humanities in Medicine at Texas A&M University. He is the editor of five volumes of scholarly editions of the writings of William James, John Dewey, and Josiah Royce, as well as several textbooks and collections of philosophical essays.

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