Research Paper on William James and Functionalism
PSY 101
4/7/13
“William James and Functionalism”
I. Introduction
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist
who had trained as a physician. He was the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United
States. James wrote influential books on pragmatism, psychology, educational psychology, the
psychology of religious experience, and mysticism. He was the brother of novelist Henry James and of
diarist Alice James. In the summer of 1878, William James married Alice Gibbens. William James was
born at the Astor House in New York City. He was the son of Henry James Sr., a noted and
independently wealthy theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day.
The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several
of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and
critics. James also worked on many theories included functionalism which is the second paradigm in
Psychology. According to William James, functionalism assumed that the human mind served an
adaptive role. It explored the function of thoughts and behaviors.
II. What is functionalism in Psychology? Functionalism is a theory of the mind in contemporary psychology, developed largely as an
alternative to both the identity theory of mind and behaviorism. This theory is built on the premise
that human mental states (beliefs, desires, pain, etc.) are constituted solely by their functional role
— that is, they are causal relations to other mental states, sensory inputs, and behavioral outputs
. Functionalism is a theoretical level between physical implementation and behavioral output.
Therefore, it is different from its predecessors of Cartesian dualism (advocating discrete mental and
physical
4/7/13
“William James and Functionalism”
I. Introduction
William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist
who had trained as a physician. He was the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United
States. James wrote influential books on pragmatism, psychology, educational psychology, the
psychology of religious experience, and mysticism. He was the brother of novelist Henry James and of
diarist Alice James. In the summer of 1878, William James married Alice Gibbens. William James was
born at the Astor House in New York City. He was the son of Henry James Sr., a noted and
independently wealthy theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day.
The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several
of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and
critics. James also worked on many theories included functionalism which is the second paradigm in
Psychology. According to William James, functionalism assumed that the human mind served an
adaptive role. It explored the function of thoughts and behaviors.
II. What is functionalism in Psychology? Functionalism is a theory of the mind in contemporary psychology, developed largely as an
alternative to both the identity theory of mind and behaviorism. This theory is built on the premise
that human mental states (beliefs, desires, pain, etc.) are constituted solely by their functional role
— that is, they are causal relations to other mental states, sensory inputs, and behavioral outputs
. Functionalism is a theoretical level between physical implementation and behavioral output.
Therefore, it is different from its predecessors of Cartesian dualism (advocating discrete mental and
physical
Cited: * James, William. The principle of Psychology. Vol. 1 and 2. 1890. Dover publications 1950. * James, William. Psychology (Briefer Course) (1892) University of Notre Dame Press 1985: Dover Publications 2001. * Wade, Carole. Tavris, Carole. Psychology Tenth Edition. Upper Saddle River. Pearson Education 2011, 2008, 2006. * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James