The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature

James describes conversion in detail in Lectures 9 and 10. Conversion is a type of rebirth or regeneration which occurs when a singular psychological aim redirects all others. James argues that conversion occurs either voluntarily or involuntarily. The human mind is driven by many motivators. These aims take turns, each pushing out the other. The act of conversion occurs when a divided self becomes unified through a singular aim—including, as in the subject of James’s lectures, a commitment to a religious belief. 

James takes a broad view of divinity. Rather than limiting his discussions to religions centered around a singular god, James asserts that divinity stands in for any type of primal truth. The individual enters a relationship with what they perceive to be absolute truth, and this truth is the source of the divine.

In the text, James distinguishes between those who are “healthy-minded” and those who are “morbid-minded.” He categorizes major religious figures from every denomination as morbid-minded when these individuals view evil as a fundamental part of the world. They are unable to look away from it. The division they experience due to their belief in evil leads them to conversion. In contrast, healthy-minded individuals do not dwell on evil in the world, and they habitually turn away from it. James offers the example of people who regularly attend Catholic confession: They are absolved of their sins by a priest and able to set aside their worry about the evil in the world and their own lives, focusing instead of their belief in pervasive goodness.

Medical materialism is a way of rationalizing and minimizing spiritual experiences. James argues that scientists are too quick to limit their analyses to the connected processes between body and mind. By dismissing the spiritual element of spiritual experiences, scientists fail to gather a full picture of the psychological underpinnings of faith.

James categorizes the Mind-Cure Movement, a 19th-century movement based on focusing on positive thoughts and beliefs, as a type of healthy-minded religion. The Mind-Cure Movement, also referred to as “New Thought,” applied psychological principles to overcoming physical and mental ailments. James cites several sources for the movement, including Emerson, the New Testament, and George Berkeley. The Mind-Cure Movement encompasses a wide range of beliefs, but most within the movement adhere to the belief that a person’s mental state has a direct impact on physical experience. Popular contemporary concepts like positive thinking and prosperity theology find their origins in the Mind-Cure Movement.

Morality denotes conduct and beliefs regarded as ethical. James cautions against associating morality too closely with religion. Moral individuals focus on doing what is right and good. This path is extremely challenging, but it is a conscious choice that offers the individual a sense of purpose. Where morality is a choice, religion is not much help. Individuals who live according to religious experiences feel that they have no choice but to submit.

The philosophical theoretical framework of pragmatism was first developed by Charles Sanders Peirce alongside William James and John Dewey. The three men were part of a group of intellectuals at Harvard in 1872 called “The Metaphysical Club.” James made pragmatism popular when he published Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking in 1907.

Pragmatism asserts that there can be no differentiation between a scientific study of the world and an examination of function. James utilizes a pragmatic approach in The Varieties of Religious Experience by exposing the practical uses of religion in an individual’s life.

Pluralism is a philosophical principle which embraces the diversity of human experience and ideas. The Varieties of Religious Experience promotes pluralistic study by enveloping all religious revelations. James rejects the idea that religion is limited to major institutions. He argues that it is too limiting to restrict study to only those concepts which make sense to the observer.

Radical empiricism is a pragmatic principle established by William James. The theory suggests that human experience is comprised of both the particulars of experience itself and the relations between them. An individual takes in sensory data, but that data is endowed with meaning. James argues that meaning is as important as sensory data when scientifically examining human experience.

When William James uses the term “religion,” he does not refer to religious institutions, such as Christianity or Islam. Instead, he refers to an individualized experience. For James, “religion” refers to the emotional interaction of the individual with their personalized understanding of the divine. Within this definition, religion may refer to traditional religious beliefs, but it may also refer to a personal relationship with science, Stoicism, morality, etc.