Unknown

William James

William James came from a family of wealth and had the advantage of not needing to work. He ventured into several different fields of study from Art to Chemistry. James had a tremendous passion for art, but once he realized that he would never become great in achievement, he changed his course in studies. “Although he was trained in medicine and ultimately thought of himself as a philosopher, William James is considered America’s first modern psychologist. He brought the new psychology to Harvard, and he wrote what is arguably the most important book in all of psychology’s history, The Principles of Psychology” (Goodwin, 2008, p. 2).

Free will was a belief that became useful for James to grasp and from this came his approach to philosophy, it is from this approach that pragmatism evolved. This approach came from James’ great dislike for nineteenth century materialism and determinism (Goodwin, 2008). This approach made William James stand out as a functionalist. As a functionalist, James believed in emotions, feelings, reasoning’s, desires and such, along with social and environmental circumstances. When studying mental life, James was clear about introspection. By introspection, he meant that scientist have to rely on Introspective Observation first, foremost and always (Goodwin, 2008). Introspection is the cautious observation of one’s self by examination and studying the conscious state that make up one’s mental abilities, therefore, introspection would have to rely on memory.

William James contributed much to psychology, even though he did not consider himself a psychologist. He was a very amazing man with a brilliant theory and thought process. He opened a wide door to the new modern psychology in America.

Goodwin, James C., (2008). A History of Modern Psychology, (3rd. ed.). Wiley.