This paper examines American functionalism as a school of psychological thought that emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It traces the development of functionalist ideas through three key figures: William James, whose work on pragmatism, functionalism, and the James-Lange Theory of Emotions laid the conceptual groundwork; John Dewey, who extended James's ideas by emphasizing the social environment and neural pathways over stimulus-response models; and James Angell, who synthesized and expanded these perspectives into a comprehensive framework encompassing mind-body unity and the interaction between individuals and their social environment.
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Over the last 120 years, a number of different philosophies have been introduced to explain the underlying causes of human behavior. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a transformation in these ideas through the rise of functionalism. To fully understand these different concepts requires examining American functionalism and how the ideas of James, Dewey, and Angell impacted this school of thought. Together, these different elements offer the greatest insights into how they influenced modern psychology.
Functionalism focuses on the way a particular thought, desire, or pain will impact the entire cognitive system of an individual. For example, when someone is in a state of desire, they will act out certain behaviors to exhibit those emotions. To further illustrate these feelings, a person can begin showing desire by becoming increasingly needy. When someone is experiencing these internal states, they begin to become a part of the emotions and feelings being acted out. It is at this point that they develop these different states working together as a larger cognitive function (Functionalism, 2006).
William James focused on several different ideas, including pragmatism, functionalism, and a theory of emotion — the James-Lange Theory of Emotions. Pragmatism holds that the truth of different ideas can never be definitively proven; instead, there is a focus on usefulness and practical value. In the case of functionalism, James concentrated on the entire event and its impact on a person's behavior. The James-Lange Theory of Emotions posits that there are specific triggers which cause someone to react in a particular way. The combination of these factors established a basic foundation for examining the total impact of specific ideas and events on an individual's cognitive system (James, 2005, pp. 45–132).
"Dewey's social environment and neural pathway focus"
"Angell's three-part synthesis of functionalist ideas"
American functionalism was built upon William James's foundational philosophy. Dewey and Angell took these ideas one step further to create a school of thought focused on the overall experience of emotions and ideas in association with physical sensations. This provides a more in-depth way of understanding how a person will react to a host of stimuli.
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