William James and the Humanistic Tradition

Abstract

A review is presented of the life and work of William James, followed by four lines of thought linking James to modern humanistic psychology: psychical research, classical Eastern psychology, existential and phenomenological psychology, and personality-social psychology. A humanistically oriented and Jamesean interpretation is offered of present-day scientific psychology, followed by prescriptions for humanistic psychologists if they have any interest in being at the forefront of the coming transformation in the social and medical sciences.