William James Resources

William James is considered by many to be one of the most influential American philosophers, and was instrumental in the beginnings of Psychology. James' father was friends with many famous literary figures, in fact James' godfather was Ralf Waldo Emerson. James earned a doctorate of medicine from Harvard, and taught physiology and philosophy there. Today, the philosophy building at Harvard is named William James Hall. James was a very prolific writer, and to this day his works are being analyzed and applied to our understanding of psychology and learning.

“I am sure that, be it in the end judged true or false, it is essential to the evolution of clearness in philosophical thought that someone should defend a pluralistic empiricism radically."
- William James

About William James

http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/james.html#top
Comprehensive site about William James, including biography, writings, etc.

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/
From the Stanford Encyclopedia of Psychology, includes biography, life timeline, and summary of writings and contributions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James
wikipedia page for James, including biography, and summary of James’ philosophical views

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-19950301-000029.html
Article on Psychology Today website about the James brothers.

http://www.psy.pdx.edu/PsiCafe/KeyTheorists/James.htm
Background information and links to other resources

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0111.html
New York Times obituary of James on August 27th, 1910.

http://www.loa.org/volume.jsp?RequestID=66§ion=notes
From the Library of America, is a summary of historical background about James’ writings.

http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/07.24.97/books-9730.html
Discussion of James’ contributions to political philosophy

http://website.lineone.net/~williamjames1/
Article that discusses James’ childhood, teaching, and contributions to psychology

Writings

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/Principles/index.htm
This is an online version of The Principals of Psychology, the introductory psychology textbook for which James is most famous. Considered by some to be the most important psychology text in history.

http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~lward/James/documents.html
selected works of James.

http://www.mythosandlogos.com/James.html
Links to several of James’ writings and lectures

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_james.html
Quotes of William James

http://www.4literature.net/William_James/Pragmatism/
Online text of Pragmatism, a series of lectures delivered by James at Lowell Institute in Boston in November and December, 1906, and in January, 1907, at Columbia University, in New York. These lectures discuss pragmatism, and its impact on philosophy.

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/author.htm#j
Several primary source documents written by James, found on the Classics in the History of Psychology website.


Pragmatism

http://www.4literature.net/William_James/Pragmatism/
Online text of Pragmatism, a series of lectures delivered by James at Lowell Institute in Boston in November and December, 1906, and in January, 1907, at Columbia University, in New York. These lectures discuss pragmatism, and its impact on philosophy.

http://james.pragmatism.org/
William James Society, an active group of individuals who continue to analyze to life and work of William James

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatism
Wikipedia page about pragmatism, James’ primary contribution to philosophy.

http://radicalacademy.com/amphilosophy7.htm
A history of pragmatism, and how James along with Charles Sanders Pierce started the “pragmatism movement”.

Analyses of James

http://williamjamesstudies.press.uiuc.edu/1.1/shusterman.html
Critical analysis by Richard Shusterman (Florida Atlantic University) of James’ view on practical and aesthetic values, and how this impacts life decisions.

http://hcs.harvard.edu/~husn/BRAIN/vol3/pdf/b96_7.pdf
Article that analyzes James’ Varieties of Religious Experience, and discusses James’ psychological study of religion.