A Study Of James’s Theory Of The "Self"

William James was one of the few thinkers who made the most outstandingcontribution to psychology in the history of psychology. But the study of his thoughtsand his historical position were in sharp contrast in our county, and the study of histhought very sporadic, has not yet formed a theoretical study of the boom. In fact,thepublish of James′s Principles of Psychology caused a great sensation in the UnitedStates, however, it published a hundred years, there is no a complete introduction tothe writings of his Principles of Psychology in our country,even the study of "self"doctrine are few, and our understanding of "self" doctrine is still under the manner ofDescarte′s"mind-body "dualism and treat self as independent entity of the mind. Ithad a clear sense to the plight of self-existence for the highly thoughtful James. Jameshad germinated the impulse to break through the traditional dualism worldview inorder to seek the understanding of the monistic when he created the book ofPrinciples of Psychology, which was radical empiricism metaphysics he subsequentlyattempts to establish; just as the idea had not thought clearly and expressed in adetermined manner, only expressed in an implicit but not explicit manner throughoutthe" Principles of Psychology.there are two concentrated expression of James’s "self" theory in his book,: one isthe "self-consciousness" chapter in the Principles of Psychology, and another is insuch two articles "does ‘consciousness’ exists" and "experience in the activities " inthe radical empiricism book which the posterity arranged for him. Radicalempiricism which James pursuited for life theory as a starting point and destinationthroughout the entire system of his thought, although the two "self" theory formed atdifferent times, but its ideological content is the same strain. I attempts to explore his"self" theory as the background of radical empiricism in this article, that is, from thegeneral background of "self" theory, the "self" doctrine in Principles of Psychology,"self" theory in radical empiricism and its theory of the product-the four aspects ofthe doctrine explains to grasp James’s "self" theory and its ideological context before and after the change. That the "self" James understood is a body-centered objectwhich individuals can experience, is the existence that exists no obvious boundarieswith the rest of the world, is a network of relationships which intertwines Inextricablywith the world, is a kind of phenomenon we can experience which flows in space inchanging all the time, is an existence which the same as the body. We understandJames’s "self "theory under the background of radical empiricism metaphysics inorder to avoid misunderstanding of "self" theory caused by all forms of out of context.