As this book has progressed a number of aporias have been shown to arise out of James's text, and promissory notes were issued for their resolutions, with this being the chapter in which they are to be paid in full. If I do not make good on them, as well I might not, I could be accused of being a philosophical tease for letting the tension build throughout the book with the promise of relief in this chapter, and then when it gets time to deliver nothing happens: No one wants to be called a “teaser,” philosophical or otherwise.

Before I undertake this most difficult constructive task, it will be helpful to give a brief summary of these aporias. The biggest aporia, of which the others are special cases, is to find a way to unify James's many selves and the many worlds toward which their interests are directed. James's deep need to have a philosophy that he could live by precludes any self-unification that is not rooted in a metaphysical unification of the many worlds. The need for a metaphysical unification is especially pressing for James, since there were apparent clashes between the things that he said from the perspectives of these different selves, especially the mystical and promethean selves. These are the deepest and most seemingly intractable aporias. In order to bring them into bold relief a brief recap will be given of the account of James's mysticism in the previous two chapters.