William James - Theory of emotion

William James (January 11, 1842, New York – August 26, 1910, Chocorua, New Hampshire) was a pioneering psychologist and philosopher. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and the philosophy of pragmatism. William James was born in New York, son of Henry James, Sr., an independently wealthy and notoriously eccentric Swedenborgian theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James fam ...

Including:

• William James - Early years
• William James - Professional career
• William James - Writings
• William James - Epistemology
• William James - Cash Value
• William James - Philosophy of religion
• William James - Cash Value of Religion
• William James - Theory of emotion
• William James - William James' bear
• William James - Philosophy of history
• William James - List of major works

Read more here: » William James: Encyclopedia - William James

James is one of the two namesakes of the James-Lange theory of emotion, which he formulated independently of Carl Lange in the 1880s. The theory holds that emotion is the mind's perception of physiological conditions that result from some stimulus. In James' oft-cited example; it is not that we see a bear, fear it, and run. We see a bear and run, consequently we fear the bear. Our mind's perception of the higher adrenaline level, heartbeat, etc., is the emotion. This way of thinking about emotion has great consequences for the philosophy of aesthetics. Here is a passage from his great work, Principles of ...

See also:

William James, William James - Early years, William James - Professional career, William James - Writings, William James - Epistemology, William James - Cash Value, William James - Philosophy of religion, William James - Cash Value of Religion, William James - Theory of emotion, William James - William James' bear, William James - Philosophy of history, William James - List of major works

Read more here: » William James: Encyclopedia II - William James - Theory of emotion

One of the long-standing schisms in the philosophy of history concerns the role of individuals in producing social change. One faction sees individuals ("heroes" as Thomas Carlyle called them) as the motive power of history, and the broader society as the page on which they write their acts. The other sees society as moving according to holistic principles or laws, and sees individuals as its more-or-less willing pawns. In 1880, James waded into this controversy with "Great Men and Their Environment," an essay published in the Atlanti ...

See also:

William James, William James - Early years, William James - Professional career, William James - Writings, William James - Epistemology, William James - Cash Value, William James - Philosophy of religion, William James - Cash Value of Religion, William James - Theory of emotion, William James - William James' bear, William James - Philosophy of history, William James - List of major works

Read more here: » William James: Encyclopedia II - William James - Philosophy of history

Collections William James: Writings 1878-1899, Library of America, 1212 p., (1992) ISBN 0940450720 Psychology: Briefer Course (rev. and condensed Principles of Psychology), The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy, Talks to Teachers and Students, Essays (nine others) William James: Writings 1902-1910, Library of America, 1379 p., (1987) ISBN 0940450380 The Varieties of Religious Experience, Pragmatism, A Pluralistic Universe, The Meaning of Truth, So ...

See also:

William James, William James - Early years, William James - Professional career, William James - Writings, William James - Epistemology, William James - Cash Value, William James - Philosophy of religion, William James - Cash Value of Religion, William James - Theory of emotion, William James - William James' bear, William James - Philosophy of history, William James - List of major works

Read more here: » William James: Encyclopedia II - William James - List of major works

James also did important work in philosophy of religion. In his Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh he provided a wide-ranging account of The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) and interpreted them according to his pragmatic leanings. Some of the important claims he makes in this regard: Religious genius (experience) should be the primary topic in the study of religion, rather than religious institutions--since institutions are merely the social descendant of genius. The intense, even pathologic ...

See also:

William James, William James - Early years, William James - Professional career, William James - Writings, William James - Epistemology, William James - Cash Value, William James - Philosophy of religion, William James - Cash Value of Religion, William James - Theory of emotion, William James - William James' bear, William James - Philosophy of history, William James - List of major works

Read more here: » William James: Encyclopedia II - William James - Philosophy of religion

James studied medicine, physiology, and biology, and began to teach in those subjects, but was drawn to the scientific study of the human mind at a time when psychology was constituting itself as a science. James's acquaintance with the work of figures like Hermann Helmholtz in Germany and Pierre Janet in France facilitated his introduction of courses in scientific psychology at Harvard University. He established one of the first—he believed it to be the first—laboratories of experimental psychology in the United States in Boylsto ...

See also:

William James, William James - Early years, William James - Professional career, William James - Writings, William James - Epistemology, William James - Cash Value, William James - Philosophy of religion, William James - Cash Value of Religion, William James - Theory of emotion, William James - William James' bear, William James - Philosophy of history, William James - List of major works

Read more here: » William James: Encyclopedia II - William James - Professional career

William James wrote voluminously throughout his life; a fairly complete bibliography of his writings by John McDermott is 47 pages long (John J. McDermott, The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition, rev. ed. [Univ. of Chicago Press, 1977 ISBN 0226391884], pp. 812-58). (See below for a list of his major writings and additional collections) He first gained widespread recognition with Psychology: The Briefer Course, an 1892 abridgement of his monumental Principles of Psychology (1890). These works critic ...

See also:

William James, William James - Early years, William James - Professional career, William James - Writings, William James - Epistemology, William James - Cash Value, William James - Philosophy of religion, William James - Cash Value of Religion, William James - Theory of emotion, William James - William James' bear, William James - Philosophy of history, William James - List of major works

Read more here: » William James: Encyclopedia II - William James - Writings

James defined truth as that which works in the way of belief. "True ideas lead us into useful verbal and conceptual quarters as well as directly up to useful sensible termini. They lead to consistency, stability and flowing human intercourse" but "all true processes must lead to the face of directly verifying sensible experiences somewhere," he wrote. Pragmatism as a view of the meaning of truth is considered obsolete by many in contemporary philosophy, because the predominant trend of thinking in the years since James' death (1910) h ...

See also:

William James, William James - Early years, William James - Professional career, William James - Writings, William James - Epistemology, William James - Cash Value, William James - Philosophy of religion, William James - Cash Value of Religion, William James - Theory of emotion, William James - William James' bear, William James - Philosophy of history, William James - List of major works

Read more here: » William James: Encyclopedia II - William James - Epistemology

William James, with his younger brother Henry James (who became a prominent novelist) and sister Alice James (who is known for her posthumously published diary), received an eclectic trans-Atlantic education, developing fluency in both German and French languages along with a cosmopolitan character. His family made two trips to Europe while he was still a child, setting a pattern that resulted in thirteen more european journeys during his life. His early artistic bent led to an early apprenticeship in the studio of William Morris Hunt in Newport, Rhode Island, but yielded in 1861 to scientific studies at Har ...

See also:

William James, William James - Early years, William James - Professional career, William James - Writings, William James - Epistemology, William James - Cash Value, William James - Philosophy of religion, William James - Cash Value of Religion, William James - Theory of emotion, William James - William James' bear, William James - Philosophy of history, William James - List of major works

Read more here: » William James: Encyclopedia II - William James - Early years