William James Essay, Research Paper

William James, in the first lecture of his work the varieties of religious experiences analyzes the origins of religious phenomena. The theory mostly debated among others is that of medical materialism.

According to the theory of medical materialism, every persons spiritual , eligious or any other personal experience is solely based on the physical human bo and what state it is in. I other words these feelings are based on psychosomatic processes I believe that William James adopts this position, because he claims that even in the possibility that a higher being does indeed exist, the only way for it to communicate to people is through their bodies and its composites.

However, William James does make one major distinction in his lecture. He believes that since every single person is different, and he/she has more or less different values and morals, people interpret facts and other stimuli differently. Consequently, William James is more concerned with individual religious experiences, rather than organized collective religions. .