For James what it meant was you have the ability to seize upon possibilities in your life,

the maybes, the hypotheses of your life. And that's where you can make your life meaningful.

Hello and welcome to the Psychology Podcast. Today we welcome John Kig,

the Chair and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Massachusetts, Lolo.

He received his Master's degree in Philosophy from Pennsylvania State University

and his PhD in Philosophy from the University of Oregon.

His writing has appeared in the Paris Review, The New York Times and Harper's Magazine.

He's the author of Hiking with Nietzsche, American Philosophy of Love Story,

and his most recent book is called Six Souls Healthy Minds, How William James Can Save Your Life.

In this episode, my conversation with John Kig revolves around the existential question we've

all had. Is life worth living? John expounds on William James's answer of maybe. He shares about

his near death experience and how vulnerable moments in his life have led him to a more nuanced

understanding of philosophy. We also touch on the topics of metaphysics, determinism, suffering,

religion, and transcendence. This conversation was very rich. William James is the founder of the

field of psychology, so it seems really appropriate that we would have an entire episode of the

psychology podcast dedicated to William James, and I can't think of anyone better,

going to a real delight to chat with John Kig about William James, considering he has such a broad

depth of knowledge about him. So without further ado, I bring you John Kig.

I'd like to start off with discussing your philosophy specialization. What would you say is

are the main areas within the purview of the field that that most excite you?

My specialization is in 19th century philosophy, primarily American philosophy, but also existentialism.

But really, I mean, I was taught by a number of teachers who believe that philosophy at its best

...