pog final - william james

the value of religion

lies in its ability to produce positive outcomes in people’s lives

the two temperaments

a conflict b/twn individuals’ ideal selves & their actual selves characterized by “healthy-mindedness” or “morbid-mindedness”

the divided self

the conflict b/twn the person’s ideal self and actual self, people turn to religious experience to reconcile this division & find a sense of true harmony

what kind of religious theorist was james

substantive theorist

james’ definition of religion

the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine

healthy-mindedness

optimistic personality, tendency to see the good in things, exclude evil from their field of vision

sick soul

uneasiness and anxiety, there is something uneasy/not quite right about humanness; for some it is brief but for others its a way of life

conversion

the process by which the self that is divided becomes unified because of religion, religion becomes the “habitual center” of the individual’s personal energy

saintliness

the saintly character is the character for which spiritual emotions are the habitual center of personal energy

religion being the habitual center of personal energy

can be intellectual and/or emotional, power can be personified as God or an abstract moral ideal, belief in the benevolent continuity of that power in our human lives and a willingness to surrender to that power, shift in the emotional center towards loving others

characteristic practical consequences of the conditions of saintliness

asceticism: trying to live a simple life, abstinence from worldly powers

strength of the soul: inward tranquility and a peace that gives people the power to face challenges in life

purity: we do our nest to live w/o contamination

charity: helping where we see a need

mysticism

spiritual or religious knowledge can be gained from becoming one with or sincerely understanding a higher power

4 qualities of mystical experience

ineffable: inability to fully describe the experience to others, making them inherently personal

noetic: there’s a strong sense of gaining a genuine, unmediated insight

transient: short-lived, not ongoing

passive: the experience is entirely controlled by the higher power

how does james support his claims?

pragmatism: what we call the truth of our ideas and beliefs must be measured in terms of their value, or usefulness, to the individual who embraces them

supports his claim that religious beliefs are fluid/changeable and should be based on their usefulness to believers

ideas must be replaced when they are no longer useful

james’ substantive theory of religion

not only in mysticism, but in all religious experience, there is a real and personal truth to be found in a continuous engagement “with a wider self through which saving experiences come”