Question

How does William James use the notions of "illusions" and "hallucinations" to describe his ideas of perception?

Answer 1

Perception is somthing which is likely to be influenced by prior experiences as well as the nature of environmental stimuli provided as a cue to be perceived. What James had hypothesized through his work and findings was as follows: The behavioral learning of an association between two stimuli is accomplished by the establishment or strengthening of a functional connection between the neuronal representations of the associated stimuli. He postulated that a neuronal system containing two different channels was essentially responsible for the stimulus response system and thereby perception formation. Truth can only be tested by the practical consequences of belief is something that he inherently believed in. The fact that he underwent personal challenges such as depression battles in the family led him to the belief that freewill and existence of God were illusions. James suffered panic attacks and hallucinations just like his father before him, which caused him to believe that his illness was rooted in a biological determinism he could not overcome. Freedom of choice and risk taking, etc are some of the ways in which happiness could be sought. It is created, not really discovered per se. Similar themes and concepts were used to explain the distortion of perception and outlooks that culminate into hallucinations and illusions.