Pragmatism And Religion By William James

 William James is a well-renowned American philosopher. He was born on the 11^th of January 1842, and died at the age of 68 on the 26^th of August, in the year 1910. Due to his contributions and helping bring philosophy to America he was known as the father of American Philosophy. Spending most of his career at Harvard, he studied to become a physician, but he ended up not practicing medicine. Instead, he opted to study psychology and then would go on to study Philosophy where he establishes pragmatism alongside many other important contributions to philosophy. Here is a good video on William James and the impact he leaves on people. Now I have gone through and highlighted the quotes and evidence throughout the text.

Now, we must define what pragmatism is to have a clearer understanding of this lecture by William James. According to the oxford dictionary and other articles, “Pragmatism is an approach that assesses the truth of the meaning of theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application”. Meaning that truth is directly linked to an approach’s success. Or in other words, if it works, then it must be true. While this is a general idea, in pragmatic belief truth isn’t always absolute, it can be modified depending on the outcome. Pragmatism and its definition is also discussed in the second lecture.  While I may not be the best explainer of what pragmatism is here is a video better demonstrating it!!

Pragmatism and Religion is a lecture in a series of lectures by William James. In this said lecture, James describes pragmatism’s effects on the possibility of religion. While many believe religion and pragmatism can’t go hand in hand due to pragmatism typically stemming from action IE physical evidence James to an extent, thinks otherwise. According to the lecture James rejects the notion of religion being compatible with a monistic faith opting instead for a more pluralistic faith. From what I interpreted, for a religion to be programmatic, it must have a possibility of existing. You can neither deny nor fully agree to its existence, so by that definition, it can be pragmatic. This leads to what William James was stating, for a religion to be pragmatic it must be pluralistic because you cannot deny or confirm its existence. While that in itself isn’t a strong enough argument, the comfort that comes with a belief is reason enough to continue to believe for most people. William James believes as long as you are happy and let others live the way they want to, then that would be what is considered a pragmatic belief. 

What are Monistic and pluralistic beliefs you ask? Monistic beliefs are “not a religion or a faith per se. Instead, it is a metaphysical way of looking at the world. Monism holds that everything in the universe is really part of one substance or one nature. A monistic religion would hold that there is a god and that all of creation is really part of that god.” An example of a Monistic faith would be Hinduism, believing that everything is part of Brahman. An all-encompassing deity/the only correct one. While pluralistic beliefs typically mean “the belief that people who embrace different and even conflicting religious views can and should seek to live in harmony with one another while celebrating each other’s religious distinctives. Typically, those who identify as pluralists reject the notion that any one religious ideology is right or best.” Which essentially means accepting all religions, but that does not mean believing in one specific religion to be correct or true.

Now according to the text, William James states, “You will probably make your own ventures severally. If radically tough, the hurly-burly of the sensible facts of nature will be enough for you, and you will need no religion at all. If radically tender, you will take up with the more monistic form of religion: the pluralistic form, with its reliance on possibilities that are not necessities, will not seem to afford you security enough.” essentially stating do what makes you feel best, whether you would be considered as a tough-willed person for not needing religion at all to feel comfort or a more tender person for being monistic. Maybe you are in the middle like everyone else, where a pluralistic way of going about life will work just fine and there is no need for absolute certainty just acknowledging the possibility. Being pluralistic is the only way to bridge between rational and irrational beliefs. He talks about this in his Lecture 1 and gives examples of both kinds of people.  This leads to the hallway example that William James talks about, a hallway with many doors, each door leading to a different belief: with the hallway being the place everyone regardless of their beliefs, can exist peacefully.

In conclusion, William James’s view on pragmatism and religion is to do what makes you feel most comfortable. But he still acknowledges that the best/most pragmatic approach is a pluralistic approach. Now to summarize it wall with a quote from the man himself “Between the two extremes of crude naturalism on the one hand and transcendental absolutism on the other, you may find that what I take the liberty of calling the pragmatistic or melioristic type of theism is exactly what you require.” 

• Here are some discussion questions feel free to answer in the comments
• What does religion mean to you? Does it serve a purpose in your life?
• What form of religion do you believe in monistic or pluralistic?
• Do you agree with William James's pragmatic views on religion?

- By Abanoub Sayed