I haven’t watched the presentation, Jim. However, I find that characterization of James' interests (and of spiritualism as it was conducted in the late 19th century) to be a little anachronistic or ahistorical. It wasn’t so much that James wanted to reject the natural-scientific approach to psychology. It was that he wanted to carve out a wider understanding of what constitutes “nature” (following more or less directly from the most famous work of his own godfather, Ralph Waldo Emerson). James’ question about spiritualism (and about religion more broadly) was what we would find if we were to study in the same manner that we study the (rest of the) natural world, and with the same seriousness. Even his _Varieties of Religious Experience_ concludes that we need is fewer scholastic “proofs” of God's existence and more empirical and comparative studies of religious experience itself.
The turn of the 20th century was a time when we were trying to figure out what the boundaries of the “new” psychology were going to be. Although many “lab men” of the era rejected spiritualism and psychical phenomena early on (partly in an effort to impress physiologists and other scientists with the “seriousness” of their commitment to a certain kind of naturalism), others, like James, weren’t so certain that there was nothing worthy of scientific study in the realm of the spiritual. (Let us not forget that Hall’s _American Journal of Psychology_ was founded on a donation by Robert Pearsall Smith, a leader of the American “Holiness Movement” and one of the ASPR’s wealthiest members.) Most psychologists fell away from the ASPR after they saw how tendentious much of the research was ultimately going to be. James, however, seemed never to be satisfied that we had gathered enough evidence to be certain that it was nothing but fantasy and fraud. Chris ….. Christopher D Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 Canada 43.773895°, -79.503670° [email protected] http://www.yorku.ca/christo ………………………………... On Oct 22, 2016, at 1:30 PM, Jim Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > Some modern day students of religion (e.g., Hood) speak positively about > James’s interest in phenomena that challenged the natural science approach to > psychology. Here’s one presentation in which Hood articulates that view. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qeLfh7E9mA > > Jim > > > Jim Clark > Professor & Chair of Psychology > University of Winnipeg > 204-786-9757 > Room 4L41A (4th Floor Lockhart) > www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark > > > From: Christopher Green [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: October-22-16 10:41 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) > Subject: Re: [tips] Would William James Attend? > > > > > On Oct 21, 2016, at 12:54 PM, Michael Scoles <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I can't find the page number from Principles where he says, "Whatever floats > your boat." > > > I’m not sure what you’re objecting to here, Michael. James was a well known > and ardent advocate of spiritualism — an early joiner of the Society for > Psychical Research (in Britain) and the virtual founder of the American > Society for Psychical Research. He conducted extensive questionnaire studies > of people’s experiences of the paranormal. He visited a variety of “mediums,” > commenting publicly on their putative authenticity. He was so outspoken about > it that other psychologists of the era (1) begged him to tone it down for the > good of the psychology (Cattell), (2) actively strove to demonstrate the > frauds perpetrated by his favoured spiritualists (Münsterberg, Jastrow, Hall, > or (3) just publicly denounced him (Witmer (in)famously dubbed him the > “spoiled child of psychology”). > > All that said, James’ peculiar version of philosophical pragmatism might, to > a first approximation, be summed up as “whatever floats your boat” (if > floating a boat is taken to be doing something that seems to help the boat to > “work”). :-) > > Best, > Chris > ….. > Christopher D Green > Department of Psychology > York University > Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 > Canada > 43.773895°, -79.503670° > > [email protected] > http://www.yorku.ca/christo > ………………………………... > > On Fri, Oct 21, 2016 at 10:09 AM, Mike Palij <[email protected]> wrote: > > > http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/we-tried-to-talk-to-the-dead-at-new-yorks-only-spirit-church > > Some things never change. > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a891720c9&n=T&l=tips&o=49747 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-49747-13251.645f86b5cec4da0a56ffea7a89172...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62bd92&n=T&l=tips&o=49749 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-49749-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=49750 or send a blank email to leave-49750-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
