Boas and James at the Freud Conference, September 1909

In the metaphysical tug of war between monism and pluralism, both Franz Boas and William James declared themselves pluralists, favoring the study of particular phenomena over general laws, empirical facts over rationalistic... [ view full abstract ]

In the metaphysical tug of war between monism and pluralism, both Franz Boas and William James declared themselves pluralists, favoring the study of particular phenomena over general laws, empirical facts over rationalistic principles, materialism over idealism, skepticism over dogmatism, and inductive methodologies over deductive ones. Inspired by Humboldt, Boas identified himself as a “cosmographer,” and James was no less of a one than he. Surprisingly, however, the only documented encounter between Boas and James occurred at what has come to be known as “The Freud Conference,” G. Stanley Hall’s gala celebrating the 20th anniversary of Clark University in 1909. This paper considers the coincidences in their cosmographic leanings at around that time, when Boas was beginning to anticipate a shift in anthropology from macro-social historical to micro-social psychological concerns. Is there any evidence of James moving toward Boas from the opposite direction? And if so, why?