“William James is a towering figure in the history of American thought—without doubt the foremost psychologist this country has produced. His depiction of mental life is faithful, vital, and subtle. In verve, he has no equal. . . .
“There is a sharp contrast between the expanding horizon of James and the constricting horizon of much contemporary psychology. The one opens doors to discovery, the other closes them. Much psychology today is written in terms of reaction, little in terms of becoming. James would say that a balance is needed, but that only by assuming that man has the capacity for growth are we likely to discover the scope of this same capacity.” — from the introduction by Gordon W. Allport

ISBN: 978-0-268-01557-2
376 pages
Publication Year: 1985

William James (1842–1910) was an American psychologist and philosopher and one of the most popular thinkers of the nineteenth century. He is the author of many works, including his monumental The Principles of Psychology (1890), Human Immortality (1898), and The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (1902).

Gordon W. Allport (1897–1967) was one of the first psychologists to study personality, and also researched human attitudes, prejudices, and religious beliefs. He is the author of Personality (1937), The Individual and His Religion (1950), and The Nature of Prejudice (1954).

“This book . . . was originally published in 1892 by Holt and republished by Harper in 1961. A durable classic in the field, it is developed on the structure of seventeen definitive chapters treating cryptic themes such as Habit, Stream of Consciousness, The Self, Attention, Conception, Discrimination, Association, Memory, Imagination, Perception, Reasoning, Emotion, Instinct, Will, and the like. . . . Today . . . it is still eminently readable scholarship.” — Journal of Psychology and Christianity

“The re-publication of James’s work . . . is a testimony to his monumental importance in the field of psychology. The work, a brief of his larger work, The Principles of Psychology, illustrates to the modern mind how far we have come in returning to some of James’s insights.” — Studies in Formative Spirituality