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Quotes: James, William


Samuel Bailey writes of Kant: 'No one, after reading the extracts, etc., can be surpised to hear of a declaration of men of eminent abilities, that, after years of study, they have not succeeded in gathering one clear idea from the speculations of Kant . I should have been almost surprised if they had. In or about 1818, Lord Grenville, observed to Professor Wilson, that, after five years' study of Kant's philosophy, he had not gathered form it one clear idea. Wilberforce made the same confession to another friend of my own. "I am endeavoring" exclaims Sir James Mackintosh, in the irritation of baffled efforts, "to understand this accursed german (sic) philosophy."'
William James
The Types of Philosophical Thinking

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(Added by Fred Seddon on 10/24/2004, 6:02pm)
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