JAMES, WILLIAM

born Jan. 11, 1842, New York, N.Y., U.S. died Aug. 26, 1910, Chocorua, N.H. American philosopher and psychologist, a leader of the philosophical movement of Pragmatism and of the psychological movement of functionalism. Additional reading The best and most comprehensive biography, richly documented, is still Ralph Barton Perry, The Thought and Character of William James, 2 vol. (1935, reprinted 1974). Other works of biography and criticism include Gay Wilson Allen, William James (1967), a sympathetic popularization; Jacques Barzun, A Stroll with William James (1983), an appreciation; Daniel W. Bjork, The Compromised Scientist: William James in the Development of American Psychology (1983); Gerald E. Myers, William James: His Life and Thought (1986); Daniel W. Bjork, William James: The Center of His Vision (1988), including a lengthy bibliographic essay; and R.W.B. Lewis, The Jameses (1991), a study of the family.