William James Essays

psychologist would go on to become the “Father of American psychology”, but that's exactly what William James did. Born to a wealthy family in New York he went to medical school to become a physiologist, but after visiting Germany felt a pull towards psychology and philosophy. He was a natural in the field, never receiving any instruction and the first lecture in psychology he heard was the first he gave. William James was one of the most influential American minds of the 19th century and arguably one the

William James and the Psychology of Religion William James presented a valid argument for his claim that our natural constitution shapes religious consciousness. He provided a comprehensive definition of religion on which he based his claims which eliminates the possibility that these experiences are influenced by our environment or social structure. James refuted the existing claims made by medical materialists that religious experience is purely pathological, a result of reasonless hallucinations

Among the most well known philosophers and Pragmatists of America, I am going to focus specifically on two scholars: William James and John Dewey. In this essay, I am going to compare and contrast the ideas of these two thinkers. James’s doctrine mainly concerns with the cognitive, mental, and psychological life of the person, and its biological foundation. He also explores the social source and essential qualities of the human brain and self. First, through the process of pursuit of meaning behind

William James led a very successful life. He was a professor at Harvard, a physiologist, a husband, and most importantly a writer. James was mostly known for his philosophical quotes such as this, “It is the amount of life which a man feels that makes you value his mind.” Is he attempting to sound poetic or are readers just reading too deep into it? William James is considered by most the foremost famous American psychologist to date. James grew up with a large family, married a teacher, wrote many

Existentialism is a philosophy that emphasizes isolation of the individual existence in a hostile or absurd environment. William James was a famous American philosopher and psychologist, and a leading thinker of the nineteenth century. James was one of the most influential philosophers of the United States, and has been labeled the ‘Father of American psychology’ (Stanford Encyclopedia). James is best known for his Pragmatism theory, introduced in lectures in 1898 and later collected and published in Pragmatism:

William James argues in his paper “The Will to Believe” that humans must use their feelings to form their beliefs when they cannot use logic, science, reasoning, or evidence (12). James starts his paper with definitions to lay the groundwork for what he’ll discuss. He explains what he means by a hypothesis and your options when deciding between two hypotheses. Options can be of a few varieties - living or dead, forced or avoidable, and momentous or trivial (James 3). In the second section of James’

influences of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and William James has further illuminated the context of which Pragmatism was created. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., a fascinating and complex character, suffered a great deal of tragedies during his service in the American Civil War. The accumulation of his experiences during the war led him away from several aspects of his worldview prior to. Furthermore, William James’ worldview was influenced heavily by his father, Henry James, Sr.; a man who possessed unorthodox

William James was a late 19th and early 20th century American philosopher. In this paper, I will be examining a portion of one of his works The Varieties of Religious Experience. Specifically, section 11.2 Mysticism which delves into the topic of mystical experiences. First James lays out some definitions that are key to understanding his arguments. He then argues three warrants for why a person should believe in mystical experiences. It is these three warrants and their arguments that I will be

According to philosopher and psychologist, William James, he believes, “the most interesting and important thing about a person, that which determines the person’s perspective on the world, is his or philosophy of life, values, ideals and beliefs.” As a leader, it is extremely important to have a vision not only who the leader wants to become but also a vision for the organization not only now but for the future to come. James feels that as a leader it is important to hold close to their hearts because

In Rudolfo Anaya’s portrayal of spiritual and mental growth in this novel Bless Me, Anaya shows a effective meaning as well as he gives a powerful challenge to Catholic religion and the Hispanic culture. He throws in all these of these questions that no one wants to answer because these questions are not really what people want to hear or they don’t know how to answer these questions. He lets these question and facts of religion shape him and let them influence his choices and his mind set. This

i.) For Freud, sexuality is a term that is much broader than that of intercourse between male and female. He argues that sexuality takes many forms and shapes and that these forms are dependent on the sexual development during the infant years of life. Freud explains that sexuality is not simply the connection between genitals and pleasure but rather that it determines our behaviours and personalities due to infant sexuality which occurs between birth and the age of 6 and is described by Freud as

50 Psychology Classics is a brilliant book that brings together the minds of different psychologists and their developments to create masterpiece of theories and understandings. This book or psychology dictionary as it can be called, takes findings from the works of legendary psychologists such as Sigmund Freud, Abraham Maslow, B.F. Skinner and Eric Berne and translates their conclusions to simpler terms. This "dictionary" filters out thousands of psychology books and picks the best 50 and thoroughly

Bronte uses the supernatural to reveal the unconscious mind of Jane. The three noted events that incorporated the supernatural are the followig: the ghost specter in the Red Room, the entrance of the mother in Jane’s dream (before Jane leaves Rochester), and the Rochester’s cry. In the red room, Jane is physically isolated. Bronte further emphasizes Jane’s demented condition by conjuring a “strange little figure” with “glazing arms” for Jane to see, showing that she is mentally disturbed. At Thornfield

In his famous work “The Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals” Kant tries to develop a moral philosophy which depends on fundamental concepts of reason and tries to show that while making moral choices we should use reason. Kant, as an Enlightenment philosopher, places all his confidence in reason. In the first chapter, we generally recognized that an action is moral if and only if it is performed for the sake of duty. Duty commands itself as imperative. There are two types of imperatives as hypothetical

The Science of Disgust Disgust is the Queen of emotions; probably the most underrated one, but a Queen nonetheless. It is far too easy to overlook something and play it off as it being revolting (or too disgusting); however, ever stopped and thought why? Why am I disgusted at that? The natural feelings of disgust are often insusceptible to rationality, and for a logical reason too. From an evolutionary standpoint, disgust is a highly adaptive, life- saving reaction that protects us. Certain objects

and some have even passed away. The governess then had claimed to see some of the past workers, that have passed away. One of the people that had passed that had been mentioned Peter Quint, and the governess mentioned ¨a third encounter with Quint¨ (James 39). The governess claimed to have

Literary theory is a new way of looking at everything surrounding us. It frees society from what enslaves it. This essay will elaborate upon how literary theory has enabled readers to have a different notion of the texts they read and their surroundings. I will use the works of Rolland Barthes, The Death of the Author (1967) and Bakhtin, Discourse in the Novel (1975) and feminism more specifically Simone de Beauvoir and part of her book The second Sex (1949) where she talks about woman being the

Reflection Paper on Smoke Signals (directed by Chris Eyre) Smoke Signals is a movie about a young man names Victor and his friend Thomas who travel to Phoenix, Arizona to escape the reservation they live on. Smoke Signals shows an explicit representation of Freud’s Functionalist Reductionism of Religion as Victors faith and religion is being tested by his emotional turmoil experienced through his life. Smoke Signals also shows a relation to Freud’s concept that religion arises from emotions and

Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides, follows the upbringing of the title character, Calliope, and her Greek-American family. Beginning with a story about her secretly consanguineous grandparents immigrating to Detroit, the epic novel progresses to the story of her parents, and finally, Calliope herself. While she handles the conflicting dualities expressed within her family and her surrounding environment -- religion vs. science; Old World vs. New World -- Calliope must also cope with the idea of male

The main foci of this paper are to delineate the distinction between the primary qualities and secondary qualities of John Locke’s philosophy and its objection. Now some fundamental questions come to my mind such as what is primary quality? What is secondary quality? And why they are different? Before proceeding Locke’s position it is necessary to define two terms which will be used throughout this paper: “idea” and “quality.” “Idea” will refer to the perception the mind has of an object or body