William James\' Idea of Man\'s Religious Experience

¶ … William James' idea of man's religious experience is that man feels God or a spiritual presence in him and that this intuition alone - real as it feels -- is the basis of evidence that a mystical something exists. Congruent to the utilitarianism of James' philosophy, he asserts the cash-value of such belief in that it helps the individual attain a more meaningful life and gives him certain direction and bliss. In this way, interaction with the Divine (or mystical feelings) whether 'real or not that such presence exists -- and it doesn't matter - are important and authentic since they contain instrumental value.

Scientists of the time perceived people who had religious 'experiences' as being, at best, in delirium; at worst, as delusional and insane. James argued that these instances were metaphysical, namely above and beyond physical experience, and could, consequently, not be measured by scientific criteria.

Drawing a distinction between science and religion, and supporting his argument with biographies, James also argues that it is the experience itself that has to be dealt with rather than (as in science) the result. And one has to stay with the phenomenological experience rather than reduce it to factual scientific criteria.

James, further notices, that there are two difference ways of accepting the universe. One can either accept it, as per the Stoics did, stoically and resolutely resigned to circumstances whether one likes them or not. Or one can perceive the universe in a passionate happy manner. One's perception affects one's life. This deep feeling of contentment that comes with religious experience provides a true inner happiness, a genuine bliss that is the crest of good feeling. Religion, therefore, possesses instrumental value and, rather than these experiences being dismissed, they should be welcomed and encouraged.

In fact, much of James' writings (as do his later ones) indicate that James relegated a superior role to metaphysics than he did to science. This is ironical since James was also one of our pioneering psychologists and neurologists and may be perceived, in chunks of his writing, as scientifically-inclined. Nonetheless, the philosophical side of James saw the immediacy and valance of religion as being more effective of true happiness (and, therefore, more worthwhile) than any experience that hard science provided.

The rationalist or empirical approach -- the one that approaches experience via logic, the other that approaches experience via naturalism (or hard, discernible facts) -- are inferior to the intuitive approach since they do not provide the genuine inner sense of well-being that these religious experiences provides. Stoicism is pervaded by logical reality and detaches itself from euphoria. The Christian experience, however, enhances life and was, therefore, superior.

To James, the true experience could be known due to its four characteristics: it was ineffable (beyond description); it was transient (only temporary); it was noetic (the individual gained some sort of knowledge that is usually concealed from him); and it was passive (it happens to the individual).

It seems to me that these criteria may be incomplete since substances, such as drugs, may give one a similar high and the experience may certainly not be spiritual. James' definitions, therefore, may be inclusive of the religious experience, but incomplete. This may not matter since James defines religion in purely pragmatic terms and, therefore, could be easily seen as one as equally inclusive of God as devoid of him. James' religion does not demand presence of God or saints or other Divine beings for proof of existence. It is enough that the religion itself provides the adherent with some form of satisfaction and contentment. In this sense, any belief or practice that provides the adherent with a similar form of bliss may be called 'religious' ecstasy. The cults of the '60s and '70s may be included in this categorization as may be -- to an extreme -- the fervor aroused by following the Feurer in the Nazi regime. Both resulted in descriptions provided by James of religious fervor. And, in this way, the real religious experience mentioned by James -- no delusion since it is immediate and felt -- but its cash value varies from situation to situation.

It seems to me that cash value can be defined according to that which helps the individual flourish. The spiritual experiences that James had in mind may have been (in some cases, arguably) healthy and productive. Religious fervor evoked by drugs, cults, and the Nazi Reich were also instrumental but of a different kind. Their value was more destructive and, in this way, the 'cash value' of the religious experience does matter. It should be constructive.

II

William James makes distinction between the healthy-minded and the morbid-minded individual. The healthy-minded individual is he or she who is 'once-born'. She is born and the circumstances of the world are adequate for her; she is passively resigned to them. There are two types of healthy-minded individuals. The first acknowledges evil in the world and deliberately ignores it in order to proceed with life; the other is naively unaware of evil's presence.

On a higher level, is the morbid-minded individual who is 'twice-born'. This morbid-minded person is, forever, engaged in torturous reflection and contemplation of the meaning of life and trying to make sense of the existence of evil, particularly as it fits within God's plan. There are two types of morbid-minded individuals: active and passive. The active minded individual detests the world and tends to be the more puritanical harsh person who eschews pleasure and denounces existence. The passive morbid-minded individual, on the other hand, distinguishes between disposition and reality. He, or she, realizes that it is his perception of the world (his attitude) that colors the world in a particular way.

Morbid-mindedness may fall into unhappiness and cynicism or, to the other extreme, into a greater sense of contentment since the healthy morbid-minded person distinguishes between material and spiritual essences but merges both into achievement of the 'perfect' life. Whilst realizing that props of this world (such as wealth, fame, and friends) are transient, illusionary, and incomplete, they also realize their value and employ them for obtaining greater spiritual ends. James seems to imply that it is this individual who has a richer perspective on life.

The healthy-minded individual is grounded in experience (ore 'reality') and, therefore, enjoys a more pluralistic, roaming view. The morbid-minded person, on the other hand, has a transcended, monistic perspective in that he sees the full scope of the universe -- is well aware of the evil in it, too -- and his perspective gears towards upper ends, towards a spiritual striving of endeavoring to understand nature and meaning of this evil. In this way -- seeing the whole -- his perspective "ranges over the wider sense of experience."