Abstract
The fundamental basis of William James's psychology - the rock-bottom foundation on which it is constructed - is "the stream of thought" or "the stream of consciousness. " 1* The first and preeminent characteristic of our flowingly continuous experience of "thought" or "consciousness," James (1890/1983d) said, is that it is personal (pp. 220-224). Every thought, every psychological experience, is mine, or hers, or his, or yours. For this reason, he suggested, "the personal self rather than the thought [or consciousness] might be treated as the immediate datum in psychology" (p. 221).2 Indeed, James was strongly convinced that "no psychology ... can question the existence of personal selves. The worst a psychology can do is so to interpret the nature of these selves as to rob them of their worth" (p. 221).
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
1990
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 1990 From Reflections on The Principles of Psychology: William James After a Century by Michael G. Johnson and Tracy B. Henley. Reproduced by permission of Taylor and Francis Group, LLC, a division of Informa plc.
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Recommended Citation
Leary, David E. "William James on the Self and Personality: Clearing the Ground for Subsequent Theorists, Researchers, and Practitioners." Reflections on The Principles of Psychology: William James after a Century. Ed. William James, Michael G. Johnson, and Tracy B. Henley. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1990. 101-37. Print.