Reflections on the Principles of Psychology: William James After A Century

This important volume looks back to 1890 and -- 100 years later -- asks some of the same questions William James was asking in his Principles of Psychology. In so doing, it reviews our progress toward their solutions. Among the contemporary concerns of 1990 that the editors consider are: the nature of the self and the will, conscious experience, associationism, the basic acts of cognition, and the nature of perception. Their findings: Although the developments in each of these areas during the last 100 years have been monumental, James' views as presented in the Principles still remain viable and provocative. To provide a context for understanding James, some chapters are devoted primarily to recent scholarship about James himself -- focusing on the time the Principles was written, relevant intellectual influences, and considerations of his understanding of this "new" science of psychology. The balance of this volume is devoted to specific topics of particular interest to James. One critical theme woven into almost every chapter is the tension between the role of experience (or phenomenological data) within a scientific psychology, and the viability of a materialistic (or biologically reductive) account of mental life. Written for professionals, practitioners, and students of psychology -- in all disciplines.

Table of Contents:
Contents: R. Brown, Foreword. M.G. Johnson, T.B. Henley, Preface. T.B. Henley, M.G. Johnson, Introduction. R.B. Evans, William James and His Principles.E. Taylor, New Light on the Origin of William James' Experimental Psychology. A. Giorgi, The Implications for James' Plea for Psychology as a Natural Science. M. Henle, William James and Gestalt Psychology. D.E. Leary, William James on the Self and Personality: Clearing the Ground for Subsequent Theorists, Researchers, and Practitioners. J.C. Malone, Jr.William James and Habit: A Century Later. H.F. Crovitz, Association, Cognition and Neural Networks. S. Park, S.M. Kosslyn, Imagination. I. Rock, A Look Back at James' Theory of Perception. E.S. Reed, Space Perception and the Psychologist's Fallacy in James' Principles.R. Baenninger, Consciousness and Comparative Psychology. H.R. Pollio, The Stream of Consciousness Since James. J. Deese, James on the Will.

About the Author :
Michael G. Johnson, Tracy B. Henley

Review :
"...the book as a whole is remarkably coherent....the chapters in general are written with flair and humor..." —Contemporary Psychology "[The editors] provide a helpful synopsis of all the chapters....they are of uniformly high quality, always informative and often suggestively original." —Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences "...a keenly interesting body of work with contributions by some of the best minds in the field assessing and commenting on one of the best minds of the 19th Century." —The Midwest Book Review