Who they are
William James was a psychologist and author whose Principles of Psychology examined conscious experience as an ongoing stream. In the chapter included here, he described thought as personal, changing, continuous and selective, arguing against beginning with isolated sensations. This contribution belongs to the intellectual history of consciousness and the methods used to describe it.
His framework provides historical context for later experimental accounts of conscious experience.
Selected contributions
- Developed the stream-of-thought account in the 1890 Principles of Psychology.Source ↗
Selected works
Book · 1890
The Principles of Psychology, Chapter IX: The Stream of Thought
James describes conscious thought as personal, changing, continuous and selective. The chapter offers a historical framework for studying experience through psychological description, rather than an experimental explanation of every mechanism of consciousness.
The link provides Chapter IX of The Principles of Psychology, transcribed by York University, rather than the entire book.
Reading scope & citation
Reused prior inspected evidence: Opening and listed characteristics read; the entire chapter and book were not audited.
In the timeline
Biography sources & portrait credit
- The Principles of Psychology, Chapter IX: The Stream of Thought ↗Henry Holt, 1890; transcription in York University’s Classics in the History of Psychology
Portrait credit
Notman Studios (photographer). Public domain (Commons file-specific copyright declaration). Via Wikimedia Commons.
Photograph. Cropped to 4:5, resized to 320 × 400 and converted to WebP.
Image source & identification ↗ · Public domain (Commons file-specific copyright declaration) ↗
