William James

William James was an American philosopher and psychologist. He is considered the founder of the field of psychology in the United States even though he himself remained unconvinced that psychology was a separate discipline from philosophy.

James went to Harvard in 1861 to study chemistry and anatomy. After graduation, he went to Germany, where he became interested in the mind. In 1872 James was recruited by Harvard president, Charles Eliot, to teach vertebrate physiology. In 1875 James taught one of the university’s first courses in psychology, “The Relations between Physiology and Psychology,” for which he established the first experimental psychology demonstration laboratory. James also oversaw Harvard’s first doctorate in psychology and philosophy, which was earned by G. Stanley Hall in 1878. Hall noted that James’s course was, “up to the present time the only course in the country where students can be made familiar with the methods and results of recent German researches in physiological psychology” (Hall, 1879).

James’s laboratory research on sensation and perception was conducted in the first half of his career. His belief in the connection between mind and body led him to develop what has become known as the James-Lange Theory of emotion, which posits that human experience of emotion arises from physiological changes in response to external events. Inspired by evolutionary theory, James’s theoretical perspective on psychology came to be known as functionalism, which sought causal relationships between internal states and external behaviors.

In 1890 James published a highly influential, two-volume synthesis and summary of psychology, Principles of Psychology. The books were widely read in North America and Europe, gaining attention and praise from Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung in Vienna.

In 1891, James established the Harvard Psychological Laboratory, and a year later brought in Hugo Munsterberg to run it.

James then moved away from experimental psychology to produce more philosophical works (he is credited as one of the founders of the school of American Pragmatism), although he continued to teach psychology until he retired from Harvard in 1907.