How did William James write about religious experience and psychology?

William James approached religious experience and psychology through the lens of pragmatism and radical empiricism, prioritizing direct observation and reflection over laboratory-based experimentation. In his seminal nonfictional work, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), James treated religious phenomena as empirical data rather than subjects for dialectical argument.12

He argued that the validity of religious experience is best justified by its practical consequences for the individual, specifically its "philosophical reasonableness and moral helpfulness". Rather than seeking to prove the existence of God through formal logic, James examined the record of religious experience to suggest that such encounters point to "reservoirs of consciousness-like energies" with which individuals can make contact during times of crisis.31

By applying his pragmatic rule, James evaluated religious ideas based on the experiential outcomes they produce. This approach allowed him to explore religion as a vital human activity, framing it as a legitimate field of study that remains compatible with the scientific method while acknowledging dimensions of meaning beyond simple sensory data.412