The Psychology Book (14 page)

But James found it hard to

might combine to make sense is

from one conclusion to another by

imagine the structure of a unified

to suppose “that things that are

the constant stream of thoughts,

consciousness. He likened it to a

known together are known in

whose purpose is to pull us ever

group of 12 men: “Take a dozen

single pulses of that stream.” Some

forward in this way. There is no

can

one

but

the

sentence

think

only

I

of

word

not

whole

The 12-word sentence problem
was used by James to

illustrate his difficulty in grasping how a unified consciousness

stems from separate thoughts. If each man is aware of just one

word, how can there be a consciousness of the whole sentence?

PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS 43

Dots of pure color
make up this work

by the French Post-Impressionist

painter Georges Seurat. Yet our brain

combines these separate elements so

that what we see is a human figure.

final conclusion; consciousness is

not a thing but a process, which

is constantly evolving.

James also drew attention to the

personal nature of consciousness,

stating that thoughts do not exist

independently of a thinker—they

are your thoughts or mine. Each one

is “owned” by someone, and never

“comes into direct sight of a thought

in another personal consciousness

than its own.” And it is these

thoughts “connected as we feel

them to be connected” that form

the self. As thoughts cannot be

divided from the self, James said

that investigating this self should

be the starting point of psychology.

Experimental psychologists did not

agree, because “the self” cannot be

offered up for experimentation, but

James thought it was enough to

work with our understanding of a

self that does certain things and

feels in certain ways. He called this

the “empirical self,” which

manifests itself through its

behavior, and suggested that it

consists of several parts—the

material self, spiritual self, and

physiological condition. To illustrate

Another example, according to his

social self—each of which can be

this theory, James used the example

theory, would be that you feel happy

studied through introspection.

of seeing a bear, then running away.

because you are conscious that you

It is not the case that you see the

are smiling; it is not that you feel

Theory of emotion

bear, feel afraid, and then run away

happy first, and then smile.

In the early stages of his research

because of the fear. What is really

into consciousness, James realized

happening is that you see the bear

Pragmatism

that the emotions play an important

and run away, and the conscious

Related to James’s theories about

role in our daily lives, and went on to

feeling of fear is caused by the

consciousness is his approach to the

develop, with his colleague Carl

action of running. This contradicts

way we believe things to be true or

Lange, a theory about how they

what most people might think, but

not. He stated that “truths emerge

relate to our actions and behavior.

James’s view was that the mind’s

from facts... but... the ‘facts’

What was to become known as the

perception of the physical effects of

themselves are not true; they simply

James–Lange Theory of Emotion

running—rapid breathing, increased

are. Truth is the function of the

states that emotions arise from your

heartbeat, and perspiring heavily—

beliefs that start and terminate

conscious mind’s perception of your

is translated into the emotion of fear.

among them.” ❯❯

44 WILLIAM JAMES

Curies’ scientific knowledge had

assessing consciousness as

been questioned and modified, but

objectively as possible, and

its core truths remained intact.

to understand its underlying

mechanisms—both physical

Further studies

and psychological.

The period following James’s death

Modern neuroscience has

There is but one

saw the rise of the behaviorist

demonstrated that there are

indefectibly certain

movement, and a decline of interest

mechanisms of consciousness.

truth… the truth that the

in consciousness. Consequently,

By the closing years of the 20th

present phenomenon of

little theorizing on the subject

century, the British molecular

consciousness exists.

happened from around the start of

biologist and biophysicist

William James

the 1920s up until the 1950s. One

Francis Crick was claiming that

important exception was the

consciousness is related to a

German-based Gestalt movement,

specific part of the brain—the

which emphasized that the brain

prefrontal cortex area, which is

operates in a holistic way, taking

involved in thought processes

account of whole conscious

such as planning, problem-solving,

experiences, rather than separate

and the control of behavior.

James defined “true beliefs” as

events—just as when we look at a

Research carried out by the

those that the believer finds useful.

picture, we see not just separate

Colombian neuroscientist Rodolfo

This emphasis on the usefulness of

dots, lines, and shapes, but a

Linas links consciousness to

beliefs lies at the heart of the

meaningful whole. This concept

the activities of the thalamus in

American philosophical tradition of

is behind the now famous Gestalt

conjunction with the cerebral

pragmatism, which was central to

phrase: “The whole is greater than

cortex. The thalamus, a structure

James’s thinking.

the sum of the parts.”

embedded deep in the center of the

In the course of our lives, James

Since the 1980s, however,

brain, is responsible for regulating

claimed that we are continually

psychologists and neuroscientists

vibrations inside the brain at

testing “truths” against each

have developed a new field of

certain frequencies; if these regular

other, and our conscious beliefs

research called “consciousness

rhythms are disrupted—by an

keep changing, as “old truths”

studies,” focusing on two main

infection or genetic causes—then

are modified, and sometimes

areas of interest: the content of

an individual may experience

replaced by “new truths.” This

consciousness, as reported by

neurological disorders, such as

theory is particularly relevant to

people who are considered to be

epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease,

the way that all scientific research,

normal and healthy; and the

as well as psychological conditions,

including psychology, progresses.

consciousness of people whose

such as depression.

James cited the discovery of the

state of awareness has been

radioactive element radium by

impaired in some way. The latter

Pierre and Marie Curie in 1902

group includes cases, such as

as an example. In the course of

when the subject is in a “persistent

their investigations, the Curies

vegetative state” (PVS)—in which

found that radium appeared to

patients in a coma are awake and

give off unlimited amounts of

breathing independently, but have

energy, which “seemed for a

apparently lost all higher brain

moment to contradict our ideas of

functions. The goal with both paths

the whole order of nature.”

of research is to try to find ways of

However, after conscious

consideration of this revelation,

Pierre and Marie Curie’s
research,

they concluded that “although it

like most scientific work, modified, rather

extends our old ideas of energy, it

than totally contradicted, earlier theories.

causes a minimum of alteration in

New “truths,” James claimed, constantly

their nature.” In this instance, the

modify our basic beliefs in a similar way.

PHILOSOPHICAL ROOTS 45

MRI scans of the brain
have

helped to identify structures such

as the thalamus, seen in the center

of this scan, that appear to have

links to consciousness.

But when it comes to definitions

of consciousness, modern attempts

still remain vague and difficult to

apply. For example, the American

neuroscientist Antonio Damasio

calls consciousness “the feeling

of what happens,” and defines it

as “an organism’s awareness of

its own self and its surroundings.”

As William James suggested,

more than 100 years earlier,

consciousness is hard to define.

Lasting legacy

An edited version of James’s 1890

book,
The Principles of Psychology
,

is still in print, and his ideas have

been a major influence on many

Before James started teaching the

vastly beneficial discipline owes

psychologists, as well as other

subject at Harvard in 1875, there

much to his work. In 1977, in a

scientists and thinkers. The

were no independent psychology

speech celebrating the 75th

application of his pragmatic

courses available in any American

anniversary of the formation of

philosophy to facts—concentrating

university. But within 20 years,

the American Psychological

not on what is “true” but on what it

around 24 colleges and universities

Association, David Krech, then

is “useful to believe”—has helped

in the US had recognized

Professor Emeritus in psychology

psychology move on from the

psychology as a distinct academic

at the University of California at