William James and Pragmatism

William James (1842-1910)

• James was an American philosopher whose work intersected psychology, religion, history, and philosophy.
• He was the brother of author Henry James and diarist Alice James.
• James was educated at Harvard and became the first person in the United States to teach a psychology course.
• He earned a medical degree but never practiced medicine.
• James co-founded American Pragmatism with Charles Sanders Peirce.
• Pragmatists view thoughts, concepts, and language as tools for real-world problem-solving
• Traditional philosophy views thoughts, concepts and language as things that represent or mirror reality.
• Pragmatists believe beliefs should be based on practical effects, applying to scientific, religious, and moral beliefs.
• Pragmatists consider beliefs true if they help resolve problems and predict the future.
• Most philosophers think beliefs are true if they accurately reflect the world.

Basic Tenets of Pragmatism

• Coherentism proposes beliefs are justified by their relationship to other beliefs, without any belief being privileged.
• Coherentism allows science, morality, and religion to equally inform one's worldview.
• The Pragmatic view of truth states the truth of a statement depends on its usefulness.
• The Pragmatic view allows moral and religious claims to be judged on the consequences of believing them.
• Pluralist Metaphysics states reality can be conceptualized in multiple, equally valid ways.
• Pluralist Metaphysics allows science, morality, and religion to coexist as legitimate perspectives.

James' Empiricism

• James was an empiricist, believing knowledge begins and returns to experience.
• All evolution, including mental evolution, is driven by organisms adjusting to their environment, but survival isn't the only purpose.
• A quote by James says social affections, play, art, contemplation, religious emotion, moral self-approbation, fancy, and wit are required to make existence tolerable.
• A diverse array of goals are pursued because we experience the world in many ways.
• Aesthetic, religious, and moral experiences are as important as scientific or practical ones, and can be sources of knowledge and truth.
• Truths are moving targets because beliefs are constantly tested through experience.
• The test of a claim's truth is whether it continues to "work."
• If experience does not contradict our beliefs and beliefs enrich life, we have the "right" to affirm them.
• In science, we can await objective proof for hypotheses; in moral and religious matters, we face "forced" choices.
• A forced choice requires a decision before all facts are in.
• Many face a decision to affirm faith in God given that everlasting life depends on it, and we lack objective proof of God's existence.

James' Moral Philosophy

• Morality is tied to SENTIENCE, the ability of organisms to have experiences.
• Experiencing beings have interests and preferences, enabling them to make moral claims.
• There are no moral obligations to insentient objects like stones.
• There are moral obligations to sentient beings like cats because actions affect their experiences.
• There is no universal or objective moral order that assures being in the right.
• Moral problems arise from specific situations, so decisions depend on context.
• James' ethics contain a weak normativity: a good person satisfies "as many demands" as possible.
• The number of moral demands varies, and people prioritize demands differently.

The Varieties of Religious Experience

• Excerpts are from James' book, The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature.
• James attempts to account for spiritual experiences like conversion, repentance, mysticism, and saintliness.
• James analyzes experiences at a psychological level rather than prescribing or debunking them.
• The book is a work of religious psychology.
• James embraced a pluralistic view where all major forms of religion deserve toleration and respect.

What James Meant By "Religion"

• Religion encompasses feelings, acts, and experiences of individuals relating to the divine.
• Divine relations can be moral, physical, or ritual.
• Theologies, philosophies, and organizations may grow secondarily, out of religion.
• James' concept of religion is broad, encompassing many faiths and ways of relating to the divine.
• Religion is also individual, as it is primarily restricted to private religious experiences.

The Scope of James' Project

• James defends 'experience' against 'philosophy' as the core of religious life.
• James aims to convince the reader that despite absurd religious manifestations (creeds, theories), the life of religion as a whole is mankind's most important function.
• James' project describes and defends individuals' spiritual experiences as the most important aspect of religious life.

The Reality Of The Unseen

• This is the 3rd lecture of The Varieties of Religious Experience.
• James describes the mind's ability to believe more strongly in things given indirectly than those clearly perceived.
• This includes abstract ideas, never-encountered objects, and invisible presences.
• James questions why strong beliefs are held and why believers can't be swayed by rational arguments.
• James withholds judgment on whether this ability of consciousness is good or bad, it is universal.
• Abstractions aid concrete thought.
• Generalized concepts help recognize individual instances of beauty.

The Reality Of The Unseen

• All consciousness is conscious of something and all instances of consciousness have some object.
• Objects of consciousness don't need to be seen or previously experienced to be present.
• Memory and imagination enable experiencing the unseen.
• Something can be experienced as present to us without direct perception.
• This happens in religious and supernatural experiences.
• The feeling of "something there" is a common type of experience.

The Reality Of The Unseen

• Human consciousness has "a sense of reality, a feeling of objective presence, a perception of what we may call 'something there,' more deep and more general than any of the particular special senses."
• This should be taken seriously as a standard trait of human psychology.
• This feature of consciousness is an "undifferentiated sense of reality."
• Hallucinations exemplify this feature.

The Reality Of The Unseen

• Rationalism doesn't offer effective responses to such experiences; you cannot convince someone actively hallucinating that nothing exists.
• Rationalism insists beliefs have articulate grounds: stable abstract principles, definite facts of sensation, hypotheses based on those facts, and logical inferences.
• Vague impressions have no place in rationalistic systems, which drive philosophies and physical science.
• Religious experiences parallel hallucination or sensing the paranormal/supernormal.
• James is not judging validity, but explaining their persuasive nature.
• People experiencing hallucinations can't be reasoned out of them, likewise devout believers can't be swayed from experiencing the divine with reason.

The Reality Of The Unseen

• Humans are more persuaded by irrationality and emotion than reason alone.
• This is a description, not a judgment, of psychological states.
• There are potential species disadvantages and advantages.
• Religious experience may require the ability to believe strongly in imperceptible phenomena as ways to perceive concrete objects.