# Pragmatism by William James

3 Hacker News commenters recommended Pragmatism by William James and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a short, high-value philosophy read that exposes arguments which are really about nothing. Quotes describe it as roughly a four-hour read.

## Why people recommend it

- Short, quick read (1 comments): "pragmatism by William James is an easy 4 hour read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49504502))
- Exposes arguments about nothing (1 comments): "you should go read Pragmatism the book because you're arguing about nothing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49469298))
- High value for philosophy time (1 comments): "For ROI in philosophy, it doesn't get better than this." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46669170))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Tao Te Ching by Laozi](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tao-te-ching-translated.md): 32 recommend
- [Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance.md): 24 recommend
- [Meditations by Marcus Aurelius](https://hackerapproved.com/p/meditations.md): 17 recommend
- [I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas Hofstadter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/i-am-a-strange-loop.md): 16 recommend
- [Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard](https://hackerapproved.com/p/simulacra-and-simulation.md): 12 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0486826627?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780486826622) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Pragmatism by William James", https://hackerapproved.com/p/pragmatism/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).