Abstract

"William James had always been attracted to interesting women," writes biographer Robert D. Richardson. "Women found him attractive too." He quickly notes that "there has never been so much as a breath of scandal about these friendships. . . . But even if James never ran off for a fling . . . James's women friends were an important part of his life." Yet James was spontaneous and reckless, "a natural philanderer, with a philanderer's lack of interest in settled arrangements" (Richardson 353). What follows is not addressed to any potential scandal in James's personal life; it is, however, a response to what some might consider a scandal in James's professional life, namely, the close relationship that he had with ..