William James

William James, born 1842, was the first and most well known american psychologist. However, James is equally well known (if not more) as a philosopher than as he is a psychologist. His principle philosophical project of pragmatism is one which has persisted to the present day and is now renowned as the characteristic philosophy of the Americas. In short, pragmatism can be described as the "practical" philosophy. From a pragmatic epistemic standpoint, the value of a belief has entirely to do with the outcomes which it produces; if two different beliefs produce the same actual outcomes, then the beliefs are equal in value, regardless of the actual truth or falsity of the beliefs. Pragmatists tend to seek Solidarity as a form of knowledge, as opposed to seeking objectivity (which most pragmatists would say more than likely cannot be achieved).

James' pragmatic philosophy lends itself in an ideal to functionalist theory, and as such he was wholeheartedly opposed to the structuralist perspective; claiming that the consciousness consists of an unbroken unity, to describe this James coined the phrase "stream of consciousness". James' psychology was also heavily influenced by physiological experience, as such his psychology is somewhat of an attempt to merge psychology with physiology. Later this would be called physiological psychology; an attempt to uncover the physical roots of psychological behavior. This is now considered a subdivision of behavioral neuroscience.

William James would become renowned for, among a host of other feats, his transitionign of European style psychology to America. Where Pyshcology had be dominated by church men, James would bring new light and a new accessibility to all. James took root in no particluar school, alternately choosing to be an avid critic of virtually all schools. However James did show Particluar interest in the plasticity of brain matter and its role in learning and the formation of memory. James was also highly interested in emotional states. The James-Lange theory is a result of this interest, it states that it is no our emotions which give rise to different bodily states, but rather, different bodily states are a response to different stimuli, and our emotional state is simply an awareness of this interaction.