Born: January 11, 1842 in New York City.

Died: August 26, 1910 at the age of 68.

Theories he believed in: Pragmatism, Functionalism, James-Lange Theory of emotion

Pragmatism: We should focus on the usefullness of an idea rather than the truth of the idea, which can never be proven.

Functionalism: “Instead, James focused on the wholeness of an event, taking into the impact of the environment on behavior.” (http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/jamesbio.htm)

James-Lange theory of emotion: Our emotions are caused by our interpretations of a phsycological event. This theory was also independantly proposed by Carl Lange, a Danish physiologist.