How Did William James Contribute To Psychology

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William James, a leading figure in the field of psychology, was born into a very wealthy family and received schooling in both Europe and the U.S, yet suffered from poor health. Eventually he enrolled in Harvard, then changed his studies from chemistry to medicine, dabbed in zoology/biology, then returned to biology. He suffered from “neurasthenia”, which appeared to be neurotic in origin and was epidemic at the time. Eventually, James began to develop his own philosophy and came to believe in free will. In addition, he also became interested in “mind-alternating chemicals”. He later accepted a teaching position at Harvard in 1872 and three years later taught a course in Psychology, the first such course ever taught in the United States. However,