William_James

William James William James History of Psychology, 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. james, psychology, william, pragmatism, philosophy, one, mental, book, american, principles, began, years, time, theory, processes, pressley, believed, teaching, study, philosophical, new, life, ideas, harvard, europe, psychologist, psychological, philosopher, james’s, interest, first, father, about, 2002, year