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Rational Living: Some practical inferences from modern psychology is a self-help book, originally published 1905 by Henry Churchill King. The author was an American Congregationalist, theologian, educator and longest-serving president of the Oberlin college, at which he taught in mathematics, philosophy and theology. In this book, he wanted to derive the “most valuable suggestions for living”, from the findings of the key figures of psychology at the time.

The book has four major divisions, which are based on the four main inferences King draws from the findings of modern psychology: Life is complex; man is a unity; will and action are of central importance and the real is concrete. The main focus of the book is to explore these four inferences in depth. Throughout the book, King quotes and refers to the work of different psychologists and philosophers of the 18th, 19th and 20th century, such as: William James, Wilhelm Wundt, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Josiah Royce, Oswald Külpe, James Mark Baldwin, G. Stanley Hall and Hugo Münsterberg.

Context
Rational Living was published right after the transition from the 19th into the 20th century. This was the time when psychology grew tremendously as a field of science and gained more followers. In the 1880s, Americans had to study psychology in Germany. The country was highly influential in the scientific research of psychology at the time, due to figures such as Wilhelm Wundt, who are said to have founded the scientific discipline of psychology. The domain of psychology focused mainly on the contents of the mind, based on the ideas of Wundt and Titchener's structuralism.

In the United States however, psychology started to develop rapidly from 1880 to 1900. The advancements were the establishment of new laboratories and multiple psychological journals, as well as the American Psychological Association (APA). However, the new wave of American psychologists transformed the focus on mental contents to a more practical notion of psychology and thus a functionalist approach. In 1900, around 25% of articles in American psychology journals concerned applied psychology. This branch became even more important in 1920, when the International Association of Applied Psychology (IAAP) was founded.

The Complexity of Life
King claims that the main question psychology tries to answer is “What is man?”, which requires consideration of all the complexity of human life. For him, the complexity means that, in life as well as in science, all things are inter-related.

He refers to William James, in claiming that only the parts of life that we attend to, can have meaning to us. King states, that in order to grow as a person, one needs to acquire more interests in different fields, in order to be able to realize the meaningful interconnectedness of all things. He claims that by doing so, one secures personal freedom, growth, influence on others and sanity.

Furthermore, he puts emphasis on the paradoxial aspects of life, which contribute to its complexity. These paradoxes can occur in the physical, intellectual, moral, emotional, interpersonal, religious, work-related aspects of life, as well as the development of one’s character. In his view, psychology can only be a science, if it helps to discern how to resolve such paradoxes. He also derives that psychology’s “highest task” is to instruct people on the conditions leading to personal growth, character development, happiness and influence to solve the “problem of life”.

Another aspect of the relatedness of all, is that one cannot “solve [the] greater and more distant problems by ignoring those smaller and more immediate”. Thus one should not disregard one’s common work and daily duties. By claiming that there is “no magical inheritance”, he means that achievements in life do not come without fulfilling certain conditions (e.g. doing one’s work).

The Unity of Man
Throughout this section of the book, King elaborates on the influence of the mind on the body, the body on the mind, as well as the mutual influence they have on each other. He argues that the findings of natural sciences, especially modern psychology, emphasize that mind and body are interconnected. Further, he writes about the views of modern psychologists on the mind-body problem.

As for suggestions for living, King makes clear that the physical state of one’s body may be a condition for certain mental states. As an example, he suggests a regular blood oxygen concentration is required to achieve “normal brain activity” and decrease mental fatigue. He thus emphasizes the “need for a surplus of nervous energy”, which he sees as a pre-condition for character development, as well as intellectual and moral achievements. Further, he claims that habits and habit formation illustrate the mutual interactions between the body and the mind and that as there is a unity between the two, habits in one aspect of life (e.g. the way one acts) have an influence on all our other characteristics (e.g. feelings, mood, character...).

The Central Importance of Will and Action
King refers to the "voluntaristic" trend in modern psychology in the beginning of the 19th century, which put a stronger emphasis on the relation between psychology and behaviour. The body is organized for having behavioral actions as its final output, as evident from the neural and muscular organization. Also, acting out certain thoughts strengthens the ability to think, understand and retain information, as well as to reason. King summarizes this by writing "One must do, to know". Also, one can deliberately chose what to pay attention to, and the objects of one's attention in turn affect behaviour. He claims willful acting is more important than thinking or feeling. Having a strong will and self-control affect one's character, the influence on other people, happiness, as well as moral and religious beliefs. Thus, it is suggested to train one's will or self-control and especially to to be self-controlling in a positive way, rather than in an inhibitory way. For example, one should not try to suppress unpleasant thoughts, as this would just make them occur more frequently, but rather shift towards more positive thoughts.

The Concreteness of the Real
This final section of Rational Living combines the insights from the previous three sections. In reality, not just is everything related to each other, but also cannot be described in abstract terms. By categorizing reality in a purely abstract way, one may define it in an an overly simplified, one-sided manner.

Besides self-control and objectivity, respecting the individuality and freedom of other people is a means to successfully developing one's character. People should let others develop in their own, personal pace, without forcing them to act in a certain way. Furthermore, this principle is applied to childcare, influence friendship and civilization as a whole.

He also talks about the power of personal association, which describes the fact that humans learn from imitating others and voluntarily seeking out role-models. The greatest influence on one's character is claimed to be the relationship with holy persons, especially Jesus Christ, who is claimed to be the "supreme person of history".

References to modern psychologists
In Rational Living, King refers to several prominent figures in the field of psychology of the late 19th until the early 20th century. Psychology was regarded to be a branch of philosophy until the middle of the 19th century. However, during the later half of the 19th century psychology began to be part of the scientific disciplines. The study of the physiological psychology emerged, represented in the work of for example the German professor Wilhelm Wundt, who is said to be one of the founders of modern psychology. Wundt’s studies attracted not only german, but also international students, such as G. Stanley Hall and eventually found the American Psychological Association (APA). Both, Hall and Wundt, are extensively cited by King in Rational Living. Another key figure of modern psychology is William James. With his work The Principles of Psychology, published in 1890, gave a clear account of the achievement of psychological research up until the end of the 19th century and paved the way for the future advancements in the field of modern psychology. As such, King refers to James work extensively and draws inferences about the practical suggestions of living a rational life on the basis of anecdotal evidence.

With regards to the purpose of the book, to apply the findings of modern psychology to real-life, King refers to Hugo Münsterberg throughout Rational Living. Münsternberg is considered to be the founder of applied psychology. Just as King, this trend in modern psychology aimed at using the scientific method, in order to gain psychological insights, which may help with solving the practical problems of humans. King's suggestions for living mainly correspond to advices in the areas of mental health, education, organizational psychology or business management and thus overlap with some of the areas innfluenced by applied psychology.

Interestingly, the topic of psychoanalysis is not mentioned or covered in Rational Living, even though the field had already been established by Sigmund Freud in the 1890s, during which King studied at the University of Berlin. This can probably be explained by the applicational focus of the book, which stems rather on the physiological and functionalist aspects of psychology, rather than on psychoanalytic ideas.

Functionalist Psychology
Generally, King reflects has a rather functionalist notion of the study of psychology and behavior. As opposed to Structuralism, which focused mostly on the contents of consciousness, this psychological school investigated the utility and purpose of human behavior. The following passage makes his stance on Structuralism quite clear: There are no sharp distinctions, no hard and fast classifications, no short and simple formulas. The old way in which […] we built up the structure of our mental life- combining simple atomic sensations into perceptions, perceptions into conceptions, conceptions into judgements, and judgements into syllogisms – is suddenly closed for us. We are forced to question the truth of such a process at every stage. Also, he dedicates one section of his book to the “central importance of will and action”, which he opens with the statement “a man is at the time what he does”. King further refers to Darwinian idea of evolution, as well as findings of comparative psychology in claiming that the “active impulsive function” of the mind is more fundamental than the ability of perception. Additionally, his statement on animal behavior supports this view: “Not insight but impulse seems the beginning; and not insight but action seems the end”. All of these ideas and concepts are also incorporated in the school of functional psychology. Another parallel between King’s notion of psychology and functionalist psychology, is that both criticized the fact that modern psychology or more specifically structuralism, was rarely applied in a practical sense at the beginning of the 20th century.

References to William James
King cites William James throughout Rational Living, for example his early work Psychology (Briefer Course), first published in 1892 or his essays on human immortality. James opposed the idea of a simply structured mind, but instead suggested that the mind should be a dynamic concept. This is the same conclusion, that King draws from the complexity of human life. Specifically, James thought that the function, that the mind serves to humans and animals, was more important than any of it’s contents. His ideas decisively influenced the functionalist movement, as well as bringing forth the philosophical tradition of pragmatism. In general, his focus on the function of the mind and practical applicability of psychology are reflected in King’s motivation to write a book about the applicability of modern psychological findings to “valuable suggestions for living”.

In the third section of the Rational Living, King also refers to the ideas of James and other psycholgist on the topic of the mind-body problem, which is that the scientific research up until 1905 did not give any reason to believe that there cannot be an mind, or as he calls it "spirit" independent of one's body. Thus King agrees with the stance of William James, which does not regard materialism as the only right answer to the mind-body problem and denies that the brain produces the mind, meaning that the mind could not exist without the body being intact.

Furthermore, he quotes James on the matter of habits and their importance to mental life, as well as the role of the mind for action. He also refers to his theory of emotions. Often James' original remarks on the subjects are quoted at length, as his contributions to modern psychology are in line and clearly influence the writings of King in Rational Living.