Psychology and Philosophy in the Work of William James

This chapter reviews the relations between psychology and philosophy in the work of William James. Though initially committed to limiting the role of philosophy in his psychological work, James eventually realized that an admixture of philosophy and psychology would not spoil “two good things,” as he had feared, and that it was in any case unavoidable. In fact, many of the basic pillars of his psychology depend upon philosophical distinctions, and many of the premises of his philosophy are drawn from psychological analyses. And while James focused more on psychology in his early years and more on philosophy toward the end of his life, his philosophical interests preceded his study of psychology, and his psychological interests extended throughout his career. An excursus treating James’s views on logic and the nonlogical, toward the end of the chapter, underscores the primacy of experience over analysis in James’s thought, both in psychology and philosophy.