William James
By: Sydney Schettler
The well-known American philosopher, William James, was most famous for his pragmatic views as well as his influence in psychology. He has written many novels based on pragmatism such as The Will to Believe and Pragmatism: A New Name For Old Ways of Thinking. He has also written a book on psychology called The Principles of Psychology.
As a psychology major myself, I am interested in his psychological influence. He was the first to offer a psychology course in America at Harvard University. He is often referred to as the “Father of American Psychology” and was the founder of functionalism( theory that all aspects of a society serve a function and are necessary for the survival of a society). He stressed the importance of empirical rational thought over experimental, trial and error. This meaning he sought research that is strictly verifiable rather than drawing a conclusion through multiple attempts of experimentation.
As far as his philosophical influences goes, I would like to first introduce what pragmatism is. Pragmatism is an approach that assesses the truth of meaning of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application. It emphasizes the focus on usefulness and workability and practicality of ideas, policies and proposals. For example, any idea can been seen as pragmatic as long as it makes sense and can be backed up with empirical evidence. Nevertheless, James was one of the three great pragmatists alongside Charles Sanders Pierre and John Dewey.
An example of his pragmatism would be his views on religion. Since he enjoyed the idea of being able to observe and reflect on research directly, he concluded that while a God may exist, the idea of an afterlife remained unproven. He did not believe that life was determined by a fate that cannot be changed but rather as something that we determine as life progresses He did not see God as an “ Absolute Spirit” that determines everything. His reasoning for religion was as sort of a crutch that society could fall back on for optimism and reassurance. However, he explained that this can restrict individuality and freedom as well as taking responsibility for one’s actions. William James accepted any views as long as they were pragmatically justified and explained. All of this was explained in his book: The Will to Believe. I would also like to mention our professor’s book on him called: William James’s Springs of Delight to find out more information about William James.
Here is a nice youtube video of a guy whom I do not know the name talks about William James's Theory of Pragmatism.
Total runs during quarantine: 6
Section #6
