William James on a phenomenological psychology of immediate experience: the true foundation for a science of consciousness?
History of the human sciences January 1, 2010 Eugene Taylor 10 citations
William James defended personal consciousness throughout his career, declaring in his 1890 "Principles of Psychology" that psychology is the scientific study of states of consciousness and that the thinker is the thought. While writing that work, he investigated a dynamic psychology of the subconscious, which became central to his 1902 Gifford Lectures, "The Varieties of Religious Experience." This represented his clearest statement on his developing tripartite metaphysics of pragmatism, pluralism, and radical empiricism, asking whether a science of consciousness is possible.