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William James

            William James was one of the forefathers of modern psychology. He was a philosopher and psychologist, but was most well known in the field of psychology for developing the philosophy of pragmatism, or the functionalist theory: "Theory of mental life and behavior that is concerned with how an organism uses its perceptual abilities to function in its environment." James was the most widely read author of the 1900's. In 1890 James published a book called "The Principles of Psychology," which was considered a classic. William James was also the first psychologist to be born in America.
             The American philosopher-psychologist William James was born in New York City in 1842 to the religious philosopher Henry James Sr. and his wife Mary Walsh. Throughout his childhood, James attended private schools in the United States and Europe and was also privately tutored. At the age of seventeen, James wanted to become a painter. His father who wanted him to study science or to become a philosopher, strongly disapproved. Believing that it would serve as a distraction and hopefully change William's mind, his father took the family to Europe for a year. William would not be deterred. Through constant persistence he finally won and was permitted to study art in Newport, Rhode Island with artist William Hunt. After about a year and a half of studying painting, James decided that maybe he wasn't gifted enough to be an artist.
             In 1861 James joined the Lawrence Scientific School at Harvard University and began the study of chemistry. While at Harvard, James also studied anatomy and physiology under the naturalist Louis Agassiz. It was during this time that the AmericanCivil war began, but due to numerous health issues James did not enlist. In 1864 James entered Harvard Medical School, and in 1869 he graduated with an M.D. degree that he never put to use.
             In both 1872 and 1873 James was offered teaching positions at Harvard University.


Essays Related to William James

1. William James

... functions, and to understand those processes one would have had to ask what functions they perform. Although functionalism is accurate enough, it only applied to some parts of James's psychology. Not only was William James credited with being the father of American psychology, he is also credited as the father of American pragmatism, which spread throughout America as well as Europe for over ... in getting the Rockefeller Foundation and similar groups to allocate millions of dollars to the mental hygiene movement, the development of mental hospitals and the training of mental health pro...

  • Word Count: 2278
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography

2. Henry James-Life and Work

... popularity, he, in some ways, managed to follow in his father's life path. Henry Sr. was born to a very controlling William James in 1811. Henry was unwilling to become the practical professional that his father wanted him to be. Whereas his father was a driven businessman and staunch Presbyterian, Henry Sr. was a rebellious ... Paris for England on June 20, 1876. (103, 107). He secured an address in London by December of that same year (109). | Top | On May 10, 1878, the engagement of William James and Alice Gibbens was announced. In a letter dated May 29, 1878, Henry wrote to his bro...

  • Word Count: 1536
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

3. William of Orange

... to be king of England and stadtholder of the Netherlands. He married the English princess Mary, eldest daughter of his uncle, James, duke of York, which would later become King James II. Opponents of James II would later invite William to take over England. William, holding many positions as a leader, passed the English Bill of Rights, also known as the Declaration of Rights, a Toleration Act ... which lead to the glorious revolution, condemned all of James" abuses and changed a great deal of English society for many years. William of Orange took the throne of the Netherlands after the ...

  • Word Count: 764
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. Biography of Alice James

... , there does exist a mindful process of selection and structuring of thoughts taking place, even if the writer is not fully aware of it. When Alice James, the youngest sister of the famous Henry the novelist, and William the psychologist, started journaling, she was 40 years old. She was a sick shut-in, suffering from breast cancer and mental illness, who's only company was ... truth and the division of it all according to her idea of who she was truly writing for. At 18, she signed a letter to William as "Your loving idiotoid sister." Jean Strouse, in her biography of James, explains th...

  • Word Count: 2383
  • Approx Pages: 10
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. Witchcraft in William Shakespeare's Macbeth

... Elizabethan and Jacobean times. Discuss the play MacBeth in the context of the immanent presence of witchcraft in Jacobean England. Response To many, William Shakespeare's "MacBeth" is a play about demonic betrayal and evil misconceptions. In the play, three witches approach the main character being MacBeth ... showcased around Dunsinane while Malcolm is declared King of Scotland. In this play, William Shakespeare's incorporation of witchcraft into the plot was a way of reflecting upon the era's beliefs on evil; pleasing King James I and his obsession with demonic evils and what the wit...

  • Word Count: 1375
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Grade Level: High School

6. King James Bible

... began on 16 January 1604 asa request from Puritan leader Dr. John Reynolds at theHampton Court Conference, which was a meeting of the bishopsof England called for by King James. Reynolds "'moved hisMajestie, that there might bee a newe translation of theBible, because those which were allowed in the raignes ofHenrie the eight, and Edward the sixt, ... , First Company (8): Edward Lively, LaurenceChaderton, John Richardson, Roger Andrewes, Robert Spalding,Andrew Byng, Thomas Harrison, Francis Dillingham(I Chronicles to Ecclesiastes).Cambridge, Second Company (7): Andrew Downes, John Dupor...

  • Word Count: 1976
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

7. William Shakespeare

... 's evidence this theory doesn't measure up and it was indeed Shakespeare, who was the genuine author. The world has come to accept that William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, during the year of 1564. The register of Holy trinity, the parish church in Stratford, ... records his baptism on April 26. According to the custom at the time, infants were baptized about three days after their birth. William's father was a glover, trader, and landowner who married Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowner of Wilmcote. Therefore, the generally accepted date ... for S...

  • Word Count: 1669
  • Approx Pages: 7

8. William James

... are to make a personal judgment about the philosophy of healthy mindedness, then we have to look further than to William James" The Varieties of Religious Experience which defines healthy-mindedness and also gives his viewpoints on it and from which we can make our own. ... even say their motto would be similar to a famous Chinese proverb, "It is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." James gives the name of "healthy-mindedness to the tendency which looks on all things and sees that they are good". The healthy-minded temperament has ... a "constitutional incapacity for pr...

  • Word Count: 652
  • Approx Pages: 3

9. William James and the Nature of Religion

1. What is the author's thesis regarding the nature of religion? Based on reading the short story of "William James: The Testimony of Religious Experience," I can conclude that his main argument and belief was that people who examined their religious belief ... separation from god, and then the hope of forgiveness. 2. What evidence does the author appeal to in defense of this position on the nature religion? William James divided the people into two different categories which he named as the "sick soul" and "healthy-mindedness." People with sick soul seem to ... "Systematic healthy-mindedness...

  • Word Count: 536
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

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