William James

William James (1842-1910) was an American philosopher, psychologist, writer, and lecturer. He is considered one of the most innovative people ever in the history of psychology and philosophy.

William expressed many ideas concerning topics such as human thought, free will, themes of the universe, and spiritualism. He is most known for roles in a philosophical movement called Pragmatism, and a psychological movement called functionalism.

In accordance with the ideas of pragmatism, William’s style was about using free observation and reflection, and not getting caught up in arguing preconceived conclusions.

Pragmatism

William was a leader of pragmatism, which is a philosophical movement based on experience, and used to apply to experience. He wrote a book called Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking.

Themes and Outline of Pragmatism:

People should identify and investigate truth through their experiences. They can use this truth to improve experiences, and to gain practical knowledge.

Truth and practical knowledge come from:

• actual experience
• distinct, discoverable facts or actions

Truth and practical knowledge do not come from:

• pure reasoning, or proofs based solely on logic
• principles that are fixed, closed, or un-objective
• “a priori” methods; i.e. deductive procedures that are made to work by using assumptions, hypotheses, or theories instead of by using experiences and observed facts
• speculation
• insufficiency

Truth is:

• dynamic, not static
• an event (In Pragmatism, William wrote: “Truth happens to an idea.”)

Truth is equivalent to (or is found in):

• what works (i.e. the successful working of an idea)
• usefulness
• the process of verification (In Pragmatism, William wrote: “Truth for us is simply a collective name for verification processes.”)

Our idea of anything is our idea of its observable effects.

True ideas:

• have practical value and usefulness (i.e. they work when they are applied to experiences, and help us effectively deal with experiences)
• can be shown to perform through examination and experiment under the light of doubt (In Pragmatism, William wrote: “True ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate, and verify.”)
• have usefulness because of their truth, and have truth because of their usefulness.
• can later become false ideas that need to be replaced
• have their basis in the practical results from the use of the idea. (In Pragmatism, William wrote: “Truth in our ideas means their power to work.” He also wrote: “I am well aware how odd it must seem to some of you to hear me say that an idea is “true” so long as to believe it is profitable to our lives.”

True ideas can be based on what is without physical presence, as long as they fit the criteria for truth.

False ideas:

• don’t have practical value and usefulness
• cannot be validated and shown to perform

The possible (or a possibility):

• is something that is neither true nor false
• is something that may become a fact.

Emphasis should be placed on the particular instead of the universal

To understand experience, look at the world’s totality (i.e. the world’s unity as well as its disunity.) See the unity in the world, but don’t rely on a philosophy where everything in life can be described by a single concept or system.

Functionalism

William also played a prominent role in the psychological movement of functionalism, which is concerned with the function of mental processes, and how they help an organism adapt and thrive in its environment.

Functionalism was unique when it was introduced because it studied the processes of the mind and how the mind operates, rather than only studying the structure of the mind.

In his groundbreaking book Principles of Psychology, William expressed ideas about such subjects as consciousness, attention, memory, habits, and emotions. The ideas of functionalism are now part of mainstream psychology.

William James Quotes