The preceding chapter described the first lap of William James's quest for intimacy, in which he adopted the insider's approach to understanding the nature of his own Self through an introspective analysis of its conditions of identity over time. The next lap in his journey is his attempt to achieve a deep intimacy, ultimately a union, with the inner life of other persons, both natural and supernatural, even with the world at large.

The I–Thou Experience

James begins with a special inward manner in which one person experiences another as a “Thou” rather than an “It” and then extends this to the experience of the world at large, resulting in panpsychism. His analysis of the I–Thou experience bears a striking resemblance to that offered by Martin Buber some thirty years later. Buber starts with the “It” mode of experience.

Buber's I–It experience is James's pragmatic mode of experiencing worldly individuals in terms of how we can ride herd on them and use them for the achievement of our goals.