History of Neurology of Neurology William Jam… · • It is not that we see a bear, fear it, and run; we see a bear and run; consequently, we fear the bear • Our mind's perception

History of Neurology

WILLIAM JAMES, MD

FEBRUARY 6TH, 2017NEUROLOGY RESIDENT MORNING REPORT

William James MD (1842-1910)• B NYC; wealthy family, went to Europe• Brother- Henry James (author)• 1st studied art• Harvard undergrad; studied in Europe under Von Helmholtz• Harvard med school- graduated age 27• Zoological expedition with Louis Agassiz in Brazil (Amazon) • Nervous breakdown (3 years)• On recovery epiphany:

– “My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will” – Returned to life: experience/anti-mental, intellectual, Cartesian

• 1872 (age 30)-taught physiology at Harvard• 1875-Began teaching psychology

– Established 1st experimental psychology lab in the USA• Principles of Psychology; started in 1879, published in 1890• 1879-began teaching philosophy • After publication of Principles James lost interest in this “nasty little subject”:

“All one cares to know lies outside it”

William James MD (1842-1910)

• 1890 Principles of Psychology-2 volumes: the “James”

• One of the “Great Books” of Western Civilization!

• 1892-Psychology The Briefer Course: the “Jimmy”

• 1897 The Will To Believe & Other Essays in Popular Philosophy

• 1899-Talks to Teachers on Psychology: and to Students on Some of Life's Ideals

• 1902- The Varieties of Religious Experience

– Another religious epiphany from vacation in Adirondacks: “it seemed as if the Gods of all the of all nature- mythologies were holding an indescribable meeting in my breast with the moral Gods of the inner life”

• 1907- Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking

• 1909-A Pluralistic Universe

• 1909-The Meaning of Truth: A Sequel to "Pragmatism

“The Jimmy”

“The James”

Great Books of Western Civilization

James’s Theory of Emotion in: Principles of Psychology

• Also formulated by colleague Carl Lange and Giuseppe Sergi

– James-Lange-Sergi Theory of Emotion

• Emotion is the mind's perception of physiological conditions that result from some stimulus

• It is not that we see a bear, fear it, and run; we see a bear and run; consequently, we fear the bear

• Our mind's perception of the higher adrenaline level, heartbeat, etc. is the emotion

• “Aesthetic emotion, pure and simple, the pleasure given us by certain lines and masses, and combinations of colors and sounds, is an absolutely sensational experience” in Principles

James & Attention in: Principles of Psychology

Focusing of sensory apparatus is an essential feature of all sensory processes.

“Millions of items of the outward order are present to my senses which never properly enter into my experience. Why? Because they have no interest for me. My experience is what I agree to attend to. Every one knows what attention is. It is the taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or trains of thought. Focalization, concentration, of consciousness are of its essence. It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others”

The Principles of Psychology

When confronted more than one input the brain does not process equally.

James: Pragmatism &Free Will in The Will to Believe & Pragmatism

Truth is relativistic

The value of every truth is dependent on the use to the person who holds it

The mind of the observer and simple acts of observation will affect the outcome of any imperial approach to truth as the mind and its experiences and nature are inseparable

“The pragmatist always means 'true” for him who experiences the workings”

James would seek the meaning of 'true' by examining how the idea functioned in our lives

“Will to Believe” grounds justified belief in an unwavering principle that would prove more beneficial

From: 30 Seconds Philosophies 2009

William James MD: The Social Value of the College Bred Speech, then published essay, then in books

In Memories and Studies (1911)

“Mankind does nothing save through initiatives on the part of inventors, great or small, and imitation by the rest of us. These are the sole factors active in human progress. Individuals of genius show the way, and set the patterns, which common people then adopt and follow. The rivalry of the pattern is the history of the world”

A plaque from a former student given to Dr. Barohn

THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE.Platonic/Déscartes (Cartesian)

Innate, a priori idea and principle

We can know all things

Goal: Seek “certain knowledge”

Reduction, absolutism

Created by Philosophers

Lockeian/JamesionKnowledge derived from experience/senses

We cannot know all things

Goal: Understand limitations

Knowledge that works

Seek knowledge “sufficient”& “good enough” for our needs, maybe less than certain

Induction, relativism

Created by physicians

THEORIES OF KNOWLEDGE AS IT RELATES TO MEDICINE

Platonic/Cartesian

Premise: All disease can be understood through molecular mechanisms

Dx: Based on knowledge of molecular defect

Rx: Fixing defect

Lockeian/Jamesion

Premise: All medical decisions are based on incomplete knowledge of disease causeDx: Pattern recognition of

symps/signs and“indirect” lab tests

Rx: Practical - what works

Henry James: Brother of William(1843-1916)

He wrote all of the following novels except?

• The Portrait of a Lady

• Wings of a Dove

• Brideshead Revisited

• The Golden Bowl

• Daisy Miller

• The Turn of the Screw

Answer: Brideshead Revisited (Evelyn Waugh 1945)