William James and Sigmund Freud: “The Future of Psychology Belongs to Your Work”

1999 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 465-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
William James ◽  
Primary Reason ◽  
Scientific Psychology ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Radical Empiricism ◽  
Metaphysical Foundation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Philosophical Questions ◽  
Historical Origins

Although James and Freud are generally not considered scientific by experimental psychologists, both wrote about their view of what a scientific psychology should look like. Their radically different philosophical epistemologies and historical origins are reviewed, to provide an understanding of their respective visions for psychology. James took his stand on a new metaphysical foundation for the way experiments should be conducted with his formulation of radical empiricism. Freud attempted a neurological explanation of the unconscious in his “Project for a Scientific Psychology.” Remarkably, their definitions of psychology as a science had a similar ring. Likely, this is because both took a phenomenological position with regard to how they defined science, which is also probably the primary reason their ideas on the subject have always been rejected by experimentalists. The humanistic implications of the neuroscience revolution, however, have caused a reassessment of their respective positions, as philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness have brought both Freud and James back into vogue, but in new and unexpected ways.

The Process-Oriented Conception of Truth in William James

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-233
Author(s):  
J. Edward Hackett ◽  
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
Process Philosophy ◽  
Radical Empiricism ◽  
Process Thought ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Process Oriented ◽  
Concept Of Truth

In this article, I argue that William Jamess concept of truth can be interpreted accurately if we pay attention to the radical empiricism that underlines the notion in all of James's later writings and if we also see radical empiricism as a type of process thought. When we acknowledge these two conditions, we can see how Cheryl Misak is mistaken in reinscribing subjectivism back into Jamess radical empiricism, which attempted to overcome the subject-object distinction in the first place. In reading James through radical empiricism qua process philosophy, then, the background assumptions of James are set into relief yielding a deeper and richer conception of truth.

scholarly journals Thinking the Interview: On the Epistemology of an Intersubjective Field Method (Part II)

Monitor ISH ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-169
Author(s):  
Vlado Kotnik
Keyword(s):  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Interpersonal Relationship ◽  
Field Work ◽  
Field Method ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Erving Goffman ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Interview Situation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Intersubjective Field

The paper continues the article “Thinking the Interview: On the Epistemology of an Intersubjective Field Method (Part I)”, which focuses on the constant adaptability, changeability and interchangeability of the subject and object positions which are practised by researcher and informant in an interview. In order to understand better the fluid, flexible and circumstantial construction of this particular interpersonal relationship within an interview situation, the paper continues with presenting five further perspectives, based on well-established theories of some important thinkers in the field of social sciences and humanities, which may be helpful in reflecting on the positions, roles, investments, and doings of both protagonists within an interview situation: discursive perspective, underpinned by the theory of power and authority (Michel Foucault); psychoanalytic perspective, centred around the theory of the unconscious (Sigmund Freud); ethnographic perspective, capped by the theory of reflexivity (Pierre Bourdieu); mnemonic perspective, grounded on the theory of memory (Maurice Halbwachs); dramaturgical perspective, supported by the theory of interaction (Erving Goffman). The abovementioned perspectives can be helpful in planning and organising field work, as well as in collecting and interpreting the qualitative empirical data obtained by interviews.

Why William James Might be Considered the Founder of the Scientist-Practitioner Model

1993 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
George S. Howard
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Experimental Psychology ◽  
William James ◽  
The United States ◽  
Scientific Psychology ◽  
Radical Empiricism ◽  
Freedom Of The Will ◽  
The Will ◽  
Scientist Practitioner Model ◽  
The Impact

Willhelm Wundt has come to be known as the founder of experimental psychology. William James is seen as the founder of scientific psychology in America, largely because of the impact that The Principles of Psychology had on psychology in the United States. In seeing James as the central forebear of scientific psychology in this country, many applied psychologists have underestimated the importance of his contributions for their professional ambitions. It is argued that close examination of James's more philosophically oriented works reveals a set of principles (i.e., pragmatism, pluralism, radical empiricism, strenuosity, and freedom of the will) that form the basis of the scientist pracitioner model in psychology.

Mirroring the Complexities of the Human Psyche and the Depiction of Female Powerlessness in Alice Munro’s “Runaway”

Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 1036-1041
Author(s):  
Steffi Santhana Mary. S ◽  
Dr Anita Albert
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Human Behaviour ◽  
Psychological Aspects ◽  
Social Situations ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Human Psyche

Human behaviour is constructed by unconscious drives and impulses. To Freud, thoughts are supposed to be guided by desires and these desires are the fundamental basis of humankind, life, and psyche. Not being expressed directly, they take other shapes in order to be expressible in personal and social situations. They are repressed because they could not be fitted into social norms and laws. Freud believes that many of our actions are motivated by psychological forces unknown to others which he calls ‘the unconscious’. The objective of the present paper is to read Munro's Runaway in the mirror of Sigmund Freud to detect the psychological aspects of the characters.

INFLUENCE OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT ON THE PERSONALITY OF IX STANDARD STUDENTS IN MADURAI

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (23) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Maruthavanan
Keyword(s):  
Classroom Management ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Important Task ◽  
Teaching Skill ◽  
Management Skill ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Study Researcher ◽  
Class Room ◽  
Teaching Learning

This study investigated the influence of personality on the class room management of IXth standard students in Madurai district. Psychoanalysts believe man’s behaviour is triggered mostly by powerful hidden forces within the personality. Sigmund Freud, an Australian physician was the originator of this theory in the early nineties He says much of people’s everyday behaviour is motivated by unconscious forces about which they know little. In order to fully understand personality then one need to illuminate and expose what is in the unconscious. Class room management is very important task in the teaching learning process. Without class room management skill teaching skill has made no effect in the class room. In the study the researcher take IX standard students in Madurai district. In this study researcher proved the above statement. He Proved that the classroom management is directly related with the personality.

Experiencia, realidad y verdad en el pragmatismo. Entre William James y Henri Bergson

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 121-141
Author(s):  
Alberto Villalobos Manjarrez
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
Henri Bergson ◽  
Radical Empiricism ◽  
Decisive Influence

The aim of this work is to explore the relations between the concepts of experience, reality and truth in the philosophy of William James, through a dialogue with Henri Bergson, a decisive influence for the pragmatist. This text is divided into five parts: 1) a brief introduction to the problem; 2) the development of the concept of experience in James philosophy; 3) the explanation of the concept of reality in this radical empiricism; 4) the exposition of three forms of truth that correspond to antiquity, modenity and pragmatism; 5) and, finally, a brief conclusion about the posterities and the actuality of this empirical philosophy.

Schopenhauer and the Unconscious

2020 ◽  
pp. 496-516
Author(s):  
Stephan Atzert
Keyword(s):  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Arthur Schopenhauer ◽  
Death Drive ◽  
Central Idea ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Pleasure Principle ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Sabina Spielrein

This chapter explores the gradual emergence of the notion of the unconscious as it pertains to the tradition that runs from Arthur Schopenhauer via Eduard von Hartmann and Philipp Mainländer to Sabina Spielrein, C. G. Jung, and Sigmund Freud. A particular focus is put on the popularization of the term “unconscious” by von Hartmann and on the history of the death drive, which has Schopenhauer’s essay “Transcendent Speculation on the Apparent Deliberateness in the Fate of the Individual” as one of its precursors. In this essay, Schopenhauer develops speculatively the notion of a universal, intelligent, supraindividual unconscious—an unconscious with a purpose related to death. But the death drive also owes its origins to Schopenhauer’s “relative nothingness,” which Mainländer adopts into his philosophy as “absolute nothingness” resulting from the “will to death.” His philosophy emphasizes death as the goal of the world and its inhabitants. This central idea had a distinctive influence on the formation of the idea of the death drive, which features in Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle.

Reducing Pessimism's Sway in The Environmental Ethics Classroom

2004 ◽  
Vol 8 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 213-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Sheppard
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Environmental Education ◽  
Environmental Ethics ◽  
Career Paths ◽  
William James ◽  
General State ◽  
Environmental Challenges ◽  
The Subject ◽  
State Of The Environment

AbstractIncreased awareness of the breadth and depth of existing environmental challenges is part of an environmental education. One effect of this increased awareness that can manifest itself in the environmental ethics classroom is pessimism. I outline two varieties of pessimism that have a tendency to hold sway in the environmental ethics classroom: 1) pessimism about the general state of the environment; and, 2) pessimism about being able to do anything about the general state of the environment. After outlining a few of the potential educational and vocational consequences of allowing pessimism to take root, I offer a pedagogical method for reducing the sway of pessimism in the classroom. I argue that William James' and John Dewey's writings on the subject of meliorism offer a framework that, when combined with some of the insights of incrementalism theory in environmental policy, can not only help students to reduce the sway of pessimism in the classroom, but also in their chosen career paths by, among other things, highlighting the "possibility of possibility".

Disagreement in Philosophy

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Kelly
Keyword(s):  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Epistemology Of Disagreement ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Philosophical Questions

This article explores the epistemological significance of disagreement in philosophy in the light of some currently prominent theories of disagreement. More specifically, it asks whether the kind of pervasive and intractable disagreement that is characteristic of philosophy warrants a certain kind of skepticism about the subject. Some hold that, given the kind of disagreement found in philosophy, it would be irrational to hold confident views about controversial philosophical questions. According to this line of thought, the rational response to the diversity of opinion within philosophy is that of the philosophical agnostic, who consistently suspends judgment about controversial issues. Against this, it is argued that there is no plausible view about the epistemology of disagreement on which philosophical agnosticism is compelling.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document