William James Lectures
Encyclopedia
The William James Lectures are a series of invited lectureships at Harvard University sponsored by the Departments of Philosophy and Psychology, who alternate in the selection of speakers. The series was created in honor of the American Pragmatist philosopher William James
, a former faculty member at that institution. It was endowed through a 1929 bequest from Edgar Pierce, a Harvard Alumnus, who also funded the prestigious Edgar Pierce Chair in Philosophy and Psychology. Pierce stipulated that the delivered lectures be open to the public and subsequently published by the Harvard University Press
. The program was initiated in 1930 and has continued to the present. Its invited lecturers have included some of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. In some cases, the selection of lecturer has generated considerable controversy. The next lectures will be given in 2012 by Ned Block.
William James
William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
, a former faculty member at that institution. It was endowed through a 1929 bequest from Edgar Pierce, a Harvard Alumnus, who also funded the prestigious Edgar Pierce Chair in Philosophy and Psychology. Pierce stipulated that the delivered lectures be open to the public and subsequently published by the Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
. The program was initiated in 1930 and has continued to the present. Its invited lecturers have included some of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century. In some cases, the selection of lecturer has generated considerable controversy. The next lectures will be given in 2012 by Ned Block.
Chronological list of invited lectureships
- John DeweyJohn DeweyJohn Dewey was an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey was an important early developer of the philosophy of pragmatism and one of the founders of functional psychology...
(’30-’31) "Art as Experience" - Arthur Lovejoy (’32-’33) "The Great Chain of Being: A Study of the History of an Idea"
- Wolfgang KöhlerWolfgang KöhlerWolfgang Köhler was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer, and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology.-Early life:...
(’34-’35) "The Place of Value in a World of Facts" - Étienne GilsonÉtienne GilsonÉtienne Gilson was a French Thomistic philosopher and historian of philosophy...
(’36-’37) "The Unity of Philosophical Experience" - Kurt GoldsteinKurt GoldsteinKurt Goldstein was a German Jewish neurologist and psychiatrist who was a pioneer in modern neuropsychology. He created a holistic theory of the organism based on Gestalt theory which deeply influenced the development of Gestalt therapy...
(’38-’39) "Human Nature in the Light of Psychopathology" - Bertrand RussellBertrand RussellBertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, and social critic. At various points in his life he considered himself a liberal, a socialist, and a pacifist, but he also admitted that he had never been any of these things...
(’40-41) "An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth" - E. L. Thorndike (’42-’43) "Human Nature and Human Institutions"
- William E. Hocking (’46-’47) "Issues in Contemporary Philosophy of Law"
- B. F. SkinnerB. F. SkinnerBurrhus Frederic Skinner was an American behaviorist, author, inventor, baseball enthusiast, social philosopher and poet...
(’47-’48) "Verbal Behavior" - Karl R. Popper (’49-’50) "The Study of Nature and Society"
- Frank A. BeachFrank A. BeachFrank Ambrose Beach, Jr. was an American ethologist, best known as co-author of the 1951 book Patterns of Sexual Behavior.-Biography:...
(’51-’52) "A Biological Approach to Psychology" - J. L. AustinJ. L. AustinJohn Langshaw Austin was a British philosopher of language, born in Lancaster and educated at Shrewsbury School and Balliol College, Oxford University. Austin is widely associated with the concept of the speech act and the idea that speech is itself a form of action...
(’54-’55) "How to Do Things with Words" - Robert OppenheimerRobert OppenheimerJulius Robert Oppenheimer was an American theoretical physicist and professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley. Along with Enrico Fermi, he is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" for his role in the Manhattan Project, the World War II project that developed the first...
(’56-’57) "The Hope of Order" - Donald B. Lindsley (’58-’59) "Brain Organization and Behavior"
- Gabriel MarcelGabriel MarcelGabriel Honoré Marcel was a French philosopher, a leading Christian existentialist, and author of about 30 plays.He focused on the modern individual's struggle in a technologically dehumanizing society...
(’61-’62) "The Existential Background of Human Dignity" - Herbert A. Simon (’62-’63) "Symbolic Processes in Human Behavior"
- Edwin H. LandEdwin H. LandEdwin Herbert Land was an American scientist and inventor, best known as the co-founder of the Polaroid Corporation. Among other things, he invented inexpensive filters for polarizing light, a practical system of in-camera instant photography, and his retinex theory of color vision...
(’66-’67) "Color Vision from Retina to Retinex" - H. Paul Grice (’66-’67) "Logic and Conversation"
- A.J. Ayer (1970) "Russell and Moore: The Analytical Heritage"
- Donald BroadbentDonald BroadbentDonald Eric Broadbent FRS was an influential English experimental psychologist. His career and his research work bridged the gap between the pre-Second World War approach of Sir Frederic Bartlett and its wartime development into applied psychology, and what from the late 1960s became known as...
(1971) "In Defense of Empirical Psychology" - Jeffrey SatinoverJeffrey SatinoverJeffrey Burke Satinover is an American psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and physicist. He is well-known for books on a number of controversial topics in physics and neuroscience, and on religion, but especially for his writing and public-policy efforts relating to homosexuality, same-sex marriage and...
(1974) "Imagination in Art and Religion" - Michael DummettMichael DummettSir Michael Anthony Eardley Dummett FBA D.Litt is a British philosopher. He was, until 1992, Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford...
(1976) "The Logical Basis of Metaphysics" - Donald T. CampbellDonald T. CampbellDonald Thomas Campbell was an American social scientist. He is noted for his work in methodology. He coined the term "evolutionary epistemology" and developed a selectionist theory of human creativity.- Biography :...
(1977) "Descriptive Epistemology: Psychological, Sociological, Evolutionary" - Richard WollheimRichard WollheimRichard Arthur Wollheim was a British philosopher noted for original work on mind and emotions, especially as related to the visual arts, specifically, painting...
(1982) "The Thread of Life" - Allen NewellAllen NewellAllen Newell was a researcher in computer science and cognitive psychology at the RAND corporation and at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, Tepper School of Business, and Department of Psychology...
(1987) "Unified Theories of Cognition" - Roger N. Shepard (1994) "Mind and World: Principles of Perception"
Published versions of the lectures
- Austin, J.L. (1962). How to do things with words. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Ayer, A.J. (1971). Russell and Moore: The analytical heritage. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Broadbent, D.E. (1934). In defense of empirical psychology. London: Methuen.
- Campbell, D.T. (1988). Methodology and epistemology for social science: Selected papers (E. Samuel Overman, Ed.). NY: Minton, Balch & Company.
- Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. NY: Minton, Balch & Company.
- Dummett, M. (1991). The logical basis of metaphysics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Gilson, E. (1937). The unity of philosophical experience. NY: C. Scribner’s Sons.
- Goldstein, K. (1940). Human nature in the light of psychopathology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Grice, H. P. (1989). Studies in the way of words. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Köhler, W. (1938). The place of value in a world of facts. NY: Liveright Publishing.
- Lovejoy, A.O. (1934). The great chain of being: A study of the history of an idea. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
- Marcel, G. (1963). The existential background of human dignity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Newell, A. (1990). Unified theories of cognition. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Russell, B. (1940). An inquiry into meaning and truth. NY: W.W. Norton.
- Simon, H. (1979). Models of thought. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
- Skinner, B.F. (1957). Verbal behavior. NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
- Thorndike, E.L. (1943). Man and his works. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- Wollheim, R. (1984). The thread of life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.