Measurement and large reliefs: William James, Victor Hugo and Correggio

Abstract

The heroic ethics of William James (1842-1910) is crystallized in the concept of “strenuous mood”, which is constituted by a set of meanings, both explicit and implicit. One of the ways to understand part of this concept is to identify comments, notes and published writings where reference is made to the moral motives that encouraged the reflection of the philosopher and where one can clearly see some constituent of his position. In this paper we will give an account of the measured aspect of the morality of the young James, interpreting his commentary on The Nativity of Correggio put in opposition to Victor Hugo.