On William James' Stream Of Consciousness Theory And Its Enlightenment

No matter what changes have taken place in the content and form of contemporary psychology,the concern and exploration of human consciousness is the eternal theme.Throughout the history of psychology,William James is undoubtedly the most outstanding thinker in the study of consciousness.Principles of Psychology is also a detailed and comprehensive reflection of William James' ideology of stream of consciousness.In other words,the book reflects William James' whole psychology.William James' s interpretation of consciousness contains a wealth of empirical material.While describing consciousness in detail and constructing his own academic thought of stream of consciousness,he critiqued and reflected on different academic thoughts everywhere in order to better explore the true meaning of consciousness.By studying the principles of psychology,this paper attempts to understand and interpret the stream of consciousness from the aspects of its characteristics,the relationship between consciousness and object.William James' understanding of consciousness further failed to conform to his expectations,and finally merged with his thought of "radical empiricism" in his lateral years.This interpretation of consciousness by William James is a progressive historical and significant "revolution" in a subject,which criticizes and denies tradition.It gives us unlimited space to think.To study consciousness from the perspective of psychology,we still need to constantly explore the truth and constantly reflect on criticism.The article mainly consists of four parts.The first part is the introduction,which provides the background for the theory and thought.This part will state the historical background of William James' theory of consciousness and his thought and personality,as well as the ideological status of Principles of Psychology in the development history of psychology.The second part will state the related ideas contained in William and James' psychological thoughts as a whole.It includes the view of the scope of psychology,the explanation of psychological phenomena and the attention to the uniqueness of human mind.The third part is the main body of the article,which is the theoretical analysis of consciousness.This part also combines with radical empiricism to understand consciousness comprehensively and effectively.The fourth part is the summary and discussion,including the summary statement of the content,conclusion and significance of the full text of the research and combining William James' understanding of Stream of Consciousness,discussing the historical development of psychology and discussing the current trend of consciousness research in psychology.