Faith and James’s world vision

TSUTSUI Fumio

doi:10.20679/sprj.20.0_53

‘Radical empiricism’, as James calls his own philosophic attitude, suggests that he never ignores any facts that are experienced in this world. But what interests us is that at the same time the element ‘faith’ plays an essential role in his thought. This appears to make a great contrast, for accepting the facts thoroughly means accepting all the worldly contradictions, with which our faith seems to have nothing to do. <br> The contrast is made sharp when the faith is of a religious kind. The problematic of religious faith lies in its excess: it goes beyond the world of touchable facts in two ways. One, it must be held with insufficient evidence, requiring more than the facts can supply. Two, it tells us about the unseen, which is the final good. In this paper, we will see how religious faith acquires its validity in spite of this excess, which takes us into the very heart of James’ world vision. <br> First, there are cases in which our faith itself works as a truth-maker. This process of faith making itself true is called ‘verification.’ Secondly, in religious experiences, the human soul is really connected with the unseen or mystical region via our depth of feeling. And finally, these two make one in the will to believe, to accept our own feeling’s demands and to live the faith. So in James, however seemingly contradictory, to be religious means to live sincerely in this world. <br> This structure directly reflects his world view. The world always has the potential to be revealed, partly by our conduct. We are pressed to answer this potential or urged to act; then the action brings in new facts, which causes the world to put the pressure on us again. Thus we human beings and the world work together to develope the future. James sees this as the best chance for the world’s salvation.

Faith and James’s world vision

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