William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist considered by many to be one of the most influential thinkers of the nineteenth century.  He was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts into a wealthy and gifted family: his father was a noted Swedenborgian theologian, his brother was the brilliant novelist Henry James, and his sister was the diarist Alice James. Trained as a physician, he offered the first psychology course in the United States and helped found the principles of functional psychology, earning the label of “Father of American Psychology”. As a philosopher, he developed the principles of radical empiricism and is considered along with John Dewey and Charles Sanders Pierce as one of the great figures in the school of pragmatism.  James wrote widely on many topics and is best remembered for his Principles of Psychology, Essays in Radical Empiricism, and The Varieties of Religious Experience.