From Psychology To Metaphysics

William James was the spiritual leader in the new era when the United States ofAmerica lead the direction of world development of psychology since the end of thenineteenth century. He was the milepost type who created the United States ofAmerica’s modern psychology. The horizon of his psychology had a broad area whichnot only contained a large number of perceptual materials, but also was full ofspeculation. Meanwhile, it had the significance of constructing the psychology theoryand practical value at the same time. Also, his theory could direct the researchers whoadvocate the psychology as a natural science and directly affect the birth ofbehaviorism. And his original theory can also question the researchers who believephilosophy as a binary discrete theory. The psychological thought which contains thehigh value of studying are the source of William James’ religious thoughts andMonism philosophy of radical empiricism because they all cited a large number of theexperience materials in The Principle of Psychology, The tendency of Monism notonly shows the unity of his psychology theory, but also suggests the direction of hisphilosophy research.Since the publication of The Principle of Psychology, western psychologicalresearchers have concerned and studied it for a very long time and grasped a richharvest, but Chinese psychological researchers had few. This article tries to start in theperspective of the development and unity and end with catching a glimpse of hiswhole intelligence adorably. It begins from the leading clues of the development ofThe Principle of Psychology, and then elaborates the unity of his theory as analyzingthe background, the starting point, the breakthrough point and the final goal of it.James’ Monism philosophy of radical empiricism is his final goal of his wholeacademic career, the pure experience is the development of his “the stream ofthought”. They all make the point clear that James’ Monism theory is the foundationof his psychology theory. While constructing his psychology theory, James’ theory ofMonism grows up quietly. Even if he claimed his psychology is a natural science, henever interrupted or stopped to chasing the nature of “the stream of thought”. So this article grasps the radical empiricism metaphysics to understand the development andthe unity of his psychology thoughts.