Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Robin, and I'd like to welcome you to today's lesson on William James and mystical experience.

Together, I know that we're gonna work hard and learn some new things in this lesson.

So by the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain William James' understanding of religious and mystical experiences and how they contribute to the question of God's existence.

We're gonna be using some important key words today, and they are mystical experience, pragmatism, religious experience, and William James.

A mystical experience is a religious experience where someone feels a deep, personal connection to a higher power.

Pragmatism is a philosophical approach that assesses ideas based on their usefulness in real-life situations.

A religious experience is a personal feeling or moment when someone believes they connect with a higher power.

And William James was a 20th century psychologist and philosopher who popularised pragmatism.

Today's lesson will take place in three parts.

First, we're going to look at William James' approach, then we'll look at the characteristics of mystical experiences, and finally, we're going to look at religious experience and the existence of God.

So let's get started looking at William James' approach.

Now, we're gonna be using a philosophical tool in today's lesson.

Philosophers are academics and thinkers who study ultimate questions about existence, knowledge, ethics, and reality, using logic to explore these topics.

Whether you have a religious or a non-religious worldview, you can use philosophy as a tool to understand the arguments that others use to support their views.

In this lesson, we will use philosophical tools to explore the psychologist and philosopher William James' work on religious experience.

Here, you can see a photograph of William James.

William James lived from 1842 'til 1910, and he was an American philosopher and psychologist who studied religious experience.

He was born into a rich and famous household in New York.

James trained to be a doctor, but he never practised medicine.

Instead, he helped establish the discipline of psychology and taught the first psychology course in the United States.

He also contributed to pragmatism, a philosophy that focuses on the usefulness of ideas.

William James used a variety of sources when researching religious experience.

He was interested in personal accounts, so letters, diaries, and autobiographies where people described their religious experiences.

He looked specifically at religious texts, biographies of saints, writings of mystic, and other religious literature.

He also investigated historical records.

That included stories of well-known figures who reported having powerful mystical experiences.

William James compared these sources, looking for patterns.

He collected all this information and shared his findings in the book, "The Varieties of Religious Experience," which he published in 1902.

So let's check your understanding.

Look at the three pictures on the screen.

You should choose the one which is not a source of evidence that William James used when evaluating religious experiences.

Look carefully, pause a video if you need to, jot down your answer, and then come back to me.

Well done if you put B.

In picture B, we see someone who looks like they might be going to go for some kind of scan, and that is not the kind of evidence William James used.

He did not look at brain scan or neurology.

Instead, it was about the accounts, the witness statements to those religious experiences.

Now, William James was an agnostic about the existence of God.

He didn't seek to prove or disprove religious experiences themselves, but what he was interested in as a pragmatist was their practical effects.

So if you are a pragmatist, that means that you would say religious experience should be evaluated on practical effects, so whether it improves a life or behaviour, personal meaning, whether it gives someone purpose, how well it fits with someone's life, whether it makes sense of a person's life and understanding of the world.

But it should not be evaluated on scientific proof because it may go beyond what science can test, universality, which means that other people don't need to experience, it can be just that one person, or conformity, which means it doesn't need to match or conform to traditional teachings.

So let's check your understanding.

What does pragmatism mean? Is it A, ideas should only be accepted if they can be proven true? Is it B, ideas should be judged on how useful they are in real life, C, ideas should be based on ancient philosophy, or D, ideas should be judged on how they stand to others? Take your time, pause if you need to, jot down your answer, and then come back to me to check.

Well done if you put B, you're right.

Ideas should be judged on how useful they are in real life if you are using pragmatism.

So let's practise your learning.

Laura, Sofia, and Jacob are discussing William James' approach to religious experience.

I'd like you to identify whether their answers are accurate or not, and to explain why for each.

Laura says, "William James focused on how religious experiences affect people and help them find meaning rather than trying to prove they're true." Sofia says, "William James believed religious experiences were useful if supported by facts and tried to prove if they were real." Jacob says, "William James thought religious experiences were real if they felt good at the time, even if they had no lasting impact." So take your time to identify which answers, if any, are accurate and to make a note of why for each of them.

Pause the video and then come back when you are ready.

Cut.

Let's have a look at what you could have said.

Laura gave an accurate explanation.

William James focused on the practical effects of religious experiences, like how they help people find meaning rather than trying to prove them true scientifically.

Sofia gave an inaccurate explanation.

William James did not try to prove religious experiences were true.

He believed in the usefulness of beliefs, even without scientific proof, and didn't focus on proving their reality.

Jacob gave an inaccurate explanation.

William James did not judge religious experiences as real because they felt good.

He looked at their lasting impact and how they affected people's lives, not just short-term feelings.

Well done if you managed to identify that Laura was entirely accurate in her answer, and if you spotted some of the things that Sofia and Jacob got wrong.

So now that we know something about William James' approach, let's move on to the second part of our lesson, the characteristics of mystical experiences.

Now, it's really useful to compare mystical experiences with other types of experiences.

An awe-inspiring experience is a moment when you experience something with your senses that feels so amazing, powerful, or beautiful that it leaves you speechless or fills you with amazement.

One example of an auditory experience is listening to an orchestra, or it could be something quite visual, like visiting the Grand Canyon.

Now, according to William James, there's something quite different about mystical experiences.

They're different from other types of awe-inspiring experiences, such as watching the sunset.

Take some time to think or to discuss with someone nearby if you're able to, how would you describe the characteristics of an experience like witnessing a beautiful sunset? Pause if you need to give yourself time to think about that and then come back.

Now, William James would say that witnessing a beautiful sunset is different from having a mystical experience.

Andeep, Izzy, Jun, and Alex are explaining why.

Andeep says, "I can describe yesterday's sunset.

The sky was painted orange, pink, and purple." Izzy says, "A sunset makes me feel emotional, but it doesn't give me new knowledge." Jun says, "The sunset doesn't last long, and nor does its affect on me." Alex says, "I'm planning to watch the sunset tonight at 6:30 PM." So all of these features of the sunset, being able to describe it, feeling emotional but not gaining any kind of new insights or knowledge, having a passing experience but not one that kind of stays with you for too long, and even being able to go and seek out a sunset.

All of these characteristics are the ones that William James said were very different from mystical experiences.

So for him, a mystical experience cannot be described in words.

And although, like sunsets, a mystical experience might make you feel emotional, it gives you some new knowledge or insight, so you learn something new.

And again, like a sunset, it might not last that long, but the effects do last.

And finally, with a mystical experience, you can't plan to have it.

It comes upon you.

It takes over.

You can't organise or go seek one of these.

So mystical experiences, those moments of deep personal connection to a higher power or reality, according to James' research, have particular characteristics.

Ineffability, which means that it cannot be described in words, unlike the sunset, noetic quality, which means it brings deep understanding.

Again, unlike the normal awe-inspiring experiences, which might be emotional, but they don't really bring new knowledge.

Transience.

Now, like awe-inspiring experiences, it is brief, but in a different way, it has a lasting impact.

So a mystical experience stays with a person.

And the final feature is passivity.

And this means that the person involved is passive.

They can't go find the experience or seek it out.

In fact, it feels as though they're being guided by some kind of higher power.

So let's check your understanding of these features.

Which quality describes how the person feels guided by higher power during the mystical experience? Is it A, ineffability, B, noetic quality, C, transience, or D, passivity? Pause the video if you need to, jot down your answer, and then come back to check.

Well done if you put D, passivity.

The person involved is passive and guided by higher power.

William James used lots of examples to illustrate the characteristics of mystical experiences.

Here, we can see a drawing of George Fox.

George Fox was the founder of the Quakers, the Society of Friends.

And his example for James showed the practical impact of mystical experiences.

In 1647, while walking through the countryside of England, George Fox experienced something extraordinary.

Troubled by the rigid doctrines of the church and his inability to find spiritual peace, he wandered alone, searching for answers.

But one day, as he sat in solitude on a hill in Leicestershire, he felt a powerful, overwhelming presence, a direct encounter with what he called the inner light.

It was as though God himself had spoken to him, not with words, but with a truth that resonated deep within his soul.

This moment changed everything.

Fox could no longer follow the rigid structures of organised religion.

He saw them as barriers to true connection with the divine.

Instead, he began to preach a radical idea that everyone could access God directly through this inner light.

Fox's vision wasn't just personal, it reshaped his actions.

He travelled tirelessly spreading his message, inspiring the Quaker movement and challenging societal norms. He advocated for equality, insisting that all people, regardless of gender or class, could experience God.

He spoke out for peace and simplicity, believing they reflected divine truth, the mystical experience that had seized him for just a moment on that quiet Leicestershire hill became the guiding force of his life, transforming not only Fox, but the world around him.

And through his actions, his vision became a living reality, leaving a legacy which is still felt today.

So now that you've heard an account of a mystical experience, I'd like to have a think, what matters most when you're thinking about an experience like this, and when you're reflecting on what it might mean or what might be going on? Take some time, talk to somebody nearby if you're able to, or you can talk to me, pause the video, and come back when you've had a time to really think about it.

So let's check your understanding.

True or false: mystical experiences are often described as temporary, but with a deep impact? Decide what you think, whether it's true or false, and have a little think about why it's either true or false as well.

Pause the video and come back when you are ready.

Well done if you put true.

But why is the statement true? It's true because transience is a characteristic of mystical experiences, which means they're temporary, but they have lasting psychological effects, as we saw with the example of George Fox.

So let's practise what you've learned on the characteristics of mystical experiences.

These examples of religious experience are taken from William James' work.

I'd like you to look at them carefully, and from the information provided, decide which characteristic is illustrated in each example and why.

There is a list of the characteristics to help you decide.

So example A is a young boy has a religious experience, but he doesn't know how to describe it to his friends.

And B, a doctor has a brief religious experience which changes his beliefs.

So the key words that you will need to use are ineffability, meaning it cannot be explained in words, noetic quality, meaning it brings deep understanding, transience, meaning it's brief, but with a lasting impact, and passivity, it's guided by a higher power.

So you only have a small amount of information about each of these, so you're only going to be able to see perhaps one characteristic in each of the descriptions.

Take your time to work out which one and to decide why.

Pause if you need to, and when you're ready, come back to me.

Let's have a look at what you could have said about which characteristic is illustrated in each example.

So for A, the young boy who doesn't know how to describe his experience to his friends, you could have said ineffability.

the boy experiences something deep and meaningful that he cannot easily explain.

And for B, a doctor has a brief religious experience which changes his beliefs.

You could have said transience, the experience is brief, but its effects on his faith are lasting.

Well done if you got those two characteristics and if you managed to explain why.

So now that we know something about William James' approach and what he found out about the characteristics of mystical experiences, we're gonna move on and think about religious experience and the existence of God.

In 1896, William James delivered a lecture called "The will to Believe," in which he argued that believing in God is a personal choice.

And here, we can see a signpost illustrating a choice of two ways to go.

He took a pragmatic approach and thought belief in God could be justified, even without sufficient evidence, when it leads to positive outcomes, like personal growth or emotional wellbeing.

So in the case of religious experiences, particularly mystical ones, individuals might will themselves to believe in God based on their powerful transformative effects, even though the experiences cannot be verified, so that means even though you can't prove the experience is true.

Let's check your understanding.

What is the main idea in William James' lecture, "The Will to Believe?" Is it A, belief in God must be supported by scientific proof? Is it B, it is reasonable to believe in something if it leads to positive personal outcomes, even without evidence? Or is it C, we should only believe something that can be verified by others? Take some time to read through the options and jot down your answer, pause if you need to, and then come back to check.

Well done if you put B, it is reasonable to believe in something if it leads to positive personal outcomes, even without evidence.

So James wasn't interested in proving the experiences happen, but he was interested in the effects of them.

And if they were positive, then he felt it meant it was quite likely that the experience did happen.

Sam and Jun are discussing whether they believe in God, and Jun is explaining why he agrees with what William James said in "The Will to Believe." Sam says, "I don't believe in God because there is no proof he exists." Jun says, "I don't need factual evidence to believe in God.

I just know it helps me feel peaceful and hopeful.

: Sam replies, he says, "That might be true, but without proof, how can you be sure?" Joan's retort is, "I can't, but William James said that if a belief has positive effects on you, it's justified even without factual evidence." So let's check your understanding.

True or false: William James believed that mystical experiences could serve as evidence for the existence of God?" Take a moment to jot down your answer and have a think as well about why the statement is either true or false.

Pause if you need to, and then come back to check.

Well done if you put true.

Now, let's have a think about why.

James saw mystical experiences as real and meaningful, and believed they could be interpreted as evidence for the existence of God, even if they were subjective.

So let's practise what you've learned on religious experience and the existence of God using the work of William James.

Lucas, Jacob, Alex and Sofia are answering the question do religious experiences prove God exists? In the table, note whether their statement supports the answer, so supports the existence of God, using a tick or whether it doesn't using a cross, and explain why using James' criteria.

Lucas says, "Religious experience can leave a feeling of peace." Jacob says, "Other people can't share a religious experience." Alex says, "Religious experiences can positively change how a person lives their life." And Sofia says, "Religious experiences are just caused by the brain." So take some time to think about whether they're supporting God's existence or not and the reason why, but using James' thinking, his criteria.

Pause the video and then come back when you are ready.

So let's have a look at what you could have said.

For Lucas, who mentions that religious experience can leave a feeling of peace, that appears to be a positive.

saying yes, because peace might be a sign of God's presence.

Jacob, on the other hand, when he says other people can't share a religious experience, seems to be going against the idea that they might prove God because no one else can see them.

When Alex says religious experiences can positively change how a person lives their life, he seems to be saying yes, that potentially, if there's a change, it could be that the experience is real and that maybe it's caused by God.

Sofia, when she says religious experiences are just caused by the brain, is definitely suggesting that maybe they are not from God, so they are natural, so that would be a no.

Well done if you worked out whether these statements supported God's existence or not.

We've done a lot in today's lesson.

We've learned that William James was a philosopher and psychologist who explored religious experience.

We've learned how he described the characteristics of mystical experiences, using the words ineffability, noetic quality, transience, and passivity.

We've also learned that William James was a pragmatist and evaluated religious experiences by focusing on their practical effects on personal meaning.

And finally, we learned that in "The Will to Believe," William James argued that it is reasonable to believe in something if it leads to positive personal outcomes.

Thank you for working on this lesson with me today.