William James' Varieties of Religious Experience and Jungian Varieties of Human Nature: The nature of the relationship between religious experience, belief and psychological type

Summary

William James proposed that religious experiences and beliefs vary according to differences in human nature and circumstances, but his examples largely drew from Western traditions and relied on a limited typology contrasting 'healthy-mindedness' with 'the sick soul'. This article reviews James's ideas in light of recent research, especially Jungian type theory. While James's specific hypotheses were restrictive, current evidence supports his general principle that varieties of religious experience depend on varieties of human nature.

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Abstract

In his book The Varieties of Religious Experience , William James pro posed that the varieties of religious experience and belief are dependent upon the varieties of human nature and human circumstances. In theory, these varieties are diverse. In practice, most of James' examples were from the western religious traditions. Furthermore, he employed a broad and complex understanding of religious experience, and focused primarily upon a restrictive and problematic typology of human nature which distinguished 'healthy- mindedness' from 'the sick soul'. In this article, James' notion of the relationship between religious experience and human nature is reviewed in the light of more recent research, and in particular in the light of Jungian type theory. Although James' specific hypotheses were somewhat limiting, there is now good evidence to suggest that his general principle, that the varieties of religious experience are dependent upon the varieties of human nature, is indeed upheld.

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