View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Richmond University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Psychology Faculty Publications Psychology 1990 William James on the Self and Personality: Clearing the Ground for Subsequent Theorists, Researchers, and Practitioners David E. Leary University of Richmond,
[email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/psychology-faculty- publications Part of the Theory and Philosophy Commons Recommended Citation Leary, David E. "William James on the Self and Personality: Clearing the Ground for Subsequent Theorists, Researchers, and Practitioners." Reflections on The Principles of Psychology: William James after a Century. Ed. William James, Michael G. Johnson, and Tracy B. Henley. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1990. 101-37. Print. This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the Psychology at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Psychology Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Chapter 5 William James on the Self and Personality: Clearing the Ground for Subsequent Theorists, Researchers, and Practitioners David E. Leary University of Richmond The fundamental basis of William James's psychology-the rock-bottom foundation on which it is constructed-is "the stream of thought" or "the stream of consciousness. " 1* The first and preeminent characteristic of our flowingly continuous experience of "thought" or "consciousness," James (1890/1983d) said, is that it is personal (pp. 220-224). Every thought, every psychological experience, is mine, or hers, or his, or yours.