William James

Profile - William James (1842–1910)

William James was born in New York, the eldest of five children, one of whom became the novelist Henry James. When they were young, their wealthy father took the family travelling all over Europe, educating them intermittently along the way. James continued his transatlantic travels for most of his life, speaking several languages fluently and getting to know the foremost scholars and scientists of his day. At 18 he wanted to be a painter, and then after long bouts of despair and depression, he studied medicine at Harvard, where he eventually taught physiology, psychology, and philosophy. He married in 1878 and was a devoted family man. His Principles of Psychology (1890), based on 12 years of introspective investigations, has been called ‘the best-known book in all psychology’ (Gregory, 1986, p. 395). It made him famous for the phrase ‘the stream of consciousness’ and for his division of the self into the ‘Me’ and the ‘I’. His other books include The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) and Pragmatism (1907). He was a firm believer in free will and a personal spiritual force. He died of heart disease at his summer home in New Hampshire.