The Moral Equivalent of War (exhibition opening)

The Bonnafont Gallery presents an exhibition to mark the centenary of William James’s 1906 Stanford University lecture, ‘The Psychology of the War Spirit’, published as “The Moral Equivalent of War” in 1910. William James was a key figure in early twentieth century America, a pioneering psychologist and teacher, and a public philosopher in the mold of Ralph Waldo Emerson. James argued for a new form of pacifism – energetic, honorable, and patriotic – co-opting the very attributes and glories of militarism. This exhibition presents his original words in printed and aural forms, incorporating books, photographs and broadsides to evoke his thesis and invigorate its legacy.