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Document Details : Title: William James on the Act of Religious Belief Author(s): RICKEN, Friedo Journal: Bijdragen Volume: 60 Issue: 4 Date: 1999 Pages: 419-435 DOI: 10.2143/BIJ.60.4.2002297 Abstract : In this article Ricken indicates how James reacts to the physicalistic way of thinking in religious matters. James (as Wittgenstein) stresses the crucial difference between opting for a scientific hypothesis and opting for a religious belief. His claim is not merely that religious belief has the same rights as religious unbelief (since both are ‘non-rational’), but moreover that religious belief is more in accordance with the depths of human nature. The study of mysticism reveals the possibility of human self-surrender and the force of the abstractions of religious doctrine. |
