William James

A detailed Summary of William James

William James in his work "Religious Experience as the Root of Religion" argued that there is no validity in the claim of rationalism to assert the existence of only one consciousness. He based this off the foundation that the human being first perceives reality through the senses and that the human intellect comes into action after the individual feels the occurring experience.

James attempted to expand his argument through objectively drawing factual evidence from what he referred to as a "mystical state of consciousness," in order to bring about a broader realm of truth outside of rationalism. Through logic James concluded that there were three statements of authority: 1) that mystical states have authority over those individuals having the experience, 2) that no authority could come from the mystical experience of the individual, and 3) that the mystical state shattered any rationalistic claim that held objectivity to be the sole revealer of truth.

The first statement of authority is founded upon the cornerstone that the human being gathers facts t

James took the first step in approaching the human perception of truth, but he did not include the human intellect as a major factor in his approach. He stated that one perceived truth first through the senses, calling it a draw between mystical findings and non-mystical findings, without regard for the intellectual process. I state that he wanted to invalidate the rationalistic approach of identifying fact from fiction as not being a "universal authority," for if he could do this then his claim that there is a mystical consciousness could not be totally rejected on authoritative grounds. He may be correct that the human consciousness is able to attain truth through non-rationalistic ways, but to state that the senses have the sole claim on one's perception of truth, is just as closed minded as the rationalist's assertion of only one consciousness. He objectively reviewed the "private" mystic experience and in doing so he attempted to gain truth objectively from a realm to which there is not an objective foothold, which is not logically possible. The ration

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 719
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Religion

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William James

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