William James Psychology Hall of Fame     William James Psychology Hall of Fame
Thinking About Becoming A Psychology Student? Find A Psychology School Near YouThe following information relating to William James was published as a tribute to the great psychologist shortly after his death in 1910. Is there left to us in this land a man so great as William James? If the list of our leaders is scanned, men eminent in philosophy, science, art or letters, in education, law, politics or business, is there a single one to be placed beside him? He excelled in so many ways, in science, in philosophy in letters, as a teacher, as a leader in good causes and lost causes, before all as a man - kind and generous beyond measure, of remarkable individuality and distinction. The "Principles of Psychology" published in 1890, is a scientific and literary classic. No one can foretell whether it will be permanently in the group of philosophical masterpieces, beginning with the dialogues of Plato, but there is no contemporary American work and possibly no European work since the "Origin of Species," which has equal chance. Wilhelm Wundt and William James are the founders of psychology, a science which in a single generation has assumed a place coordinate with the other leading sciences. Both men - like their forerunners, Lotze and Von Helmholtz - had an education in medicine and the natural sciences, with strong natural interests in philosophy and metaphysics. They established laboratories of psychology at about the same time, neither of them did experimental work of consequence, both prepared treatises which to a remarkable extent established the lines of development for a science. Wundt's "Physiologische Psychologie"; is more systematic than James's "Principles of Psychology "; it is more of an encyclopedia. For that reason it could be brought out in various editions, corrected and enlarged. James's "Psychology" is more of a work of art, exhibiting the subject as he left it twenty years ago. It is truly a remarkable book, combining physiology, pathological psychology, comparative psychology, experimental psychology, introspective psychology and philosophy into one whole which has dominated the science. The author is always accurate in his scientific material and clear in his statements, but frank in his criticism and daring in his conclusions. His own contributions on the stream of thought, the perception of things and of space, the emotions, instinct, habit and in many other directions are of fundamental importance. The work has an extraordinary vitality and individuality which make it a work of art and a classic. In his "talks to teachers" and "Varieties of Religious Experience," James extended the field of psychology in two important directions. Nearly all his work was done in a somewhat opportunistic fashion. He made an engagement to give lectures, perhaps cancelled it or tried to do so, felt he could not prepare them and finally produced a masterpiece. "The Will to Believe" was a collection of addresses; the volume on "Religious Experience" was Gifford lectures, the "Pragmatism" Lowell lectures, "A Pluralistic Universe" Hibbert lectures. Although the interest in problems of philosophy and the pluralism, pragmatism and empiricism may be traced backward to his earlier publications, they were given full and vigorous expression only in these later volumes, when James had passed the age of sixty and was already suffering from disease of the heart. It would be idle to attempt to give here an exposition of James's attitude in philosophy. Pragmatism - the term was first used by James's friend, Charles S. Peirce, in this journal - is called on the title page of his book "a new name for an old way of thinking." It is largely the method of science applied to philosophy, but it is after all what James thought and said and wrote. His personality and its expression, the intellect swayed by the will and the emotions, have made a deep impression not only on professional philosophy but in the world of men. James inherited his brilliant literary skill from his father and shared it with his brother. His education was long and irregular. He did not graduate from Harvard, but studied art and was with Agassiz in Brazil. From 1872 to 1880 he was instructor and assistant professor of comparative anatomy and physiology at Harvard then professor of philosophy, then of psychology and then again of Philosophy. It is not probable that James left unpublished manuscripts, but his letters would form a volume of surpassing interest, though it may be that they are too personal for publication. The writer ventures to reproduce the concluding parts of the last two which he received, the one from Cambridge and the other from Bad Nauheim, where he had gone for treatment of the disease that so soon proved fatal. James at first declined on account of his health to accept the active presidency of the International Congress of Psychology to be held in this country. There was no one else to take the place, so when difficulties arose he played his part with characteristic loyalty and self-sacrifice.
Read William James Classics on KindleOn Some Mental Effects of The Earthquake
At the time of "The Great" 1906 San Francisco earthquake eminent American psychologist William James was at Leland Stanford University nearby. He succeeded in getting into San Francisco on the morning of the earthquake, and spent the remainder of the day in the city. James documented his observations that year in the June edition of Youth's Companion and later as a chapter in his book Memories and Studies which was first published in 1911. See following link for full details. On Some Mental Effects of The Earthquake Articles By William James
Various schools of thought have dominated psychology throughout its history. In this article from 1904, Professor William James evaluates the theoretical position of the Chicago School, in particular the evolutionist position of Professor John Dewey. You can access this William James article via the following link. Essential William James ReadingWilliam James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism by Robert D. Richardson
Book Description Pivotal member of the Metaphysical Club, author of The Varieties of Religious Experience, older brother of extraordinary siblings Henry and Alice, the remarkable William James put an indelible stamp on psychology, philosophy, teaching, and religion - on modernism itself. In this thought-provoking and moving biography, James emerges as an immensely complex and fascinating man. Through passionate scholarship, Robert D. Richardson illuminates James’s life and hugely influential works: the Varieties, Principles of Psychology, Talks to Teachers, and Pragmatism. At last, in this definitive work William James is given his due as a man whose influence resonates in innumerable areas of modern life. See following link for more details: William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism Classic Articles All Psychology Students Should Read
This special Kindle collection consists of the most influential, infamous and iconic research articles ever published in the history of psychology. See following link for full details. The Psychology Classics Kindle Collection Go Back To The Main Famous Psychologists Page Go From William James Psychology Back To The Home Page
 New! CommentsHave your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. |
