Embodiment, Divinity, and New Theological Directions in William James and Ralph Barton Perry
Religions January 10, 2026 Walter Scott Stepanenko
William James attempted to reconcile empiricism with religion by advocating finite theism and a pluralistic cosmos with overlapping minds of various scales, while warning against replacing functional psychology with entitative perspectives. Ralph Barton Perry criticized James for underestimating the body's role in cognition, arguing that embodied minds are cognitively superior to social or composite minds due to their integration. Perry saw embodied cognition's emergent character as grounds for a humanistic spirituality. This article compares James and Perry on theology, arguing that Perry's emphasis on embodiment in cognitive integration illuminates a tripartite distinction between impersonal, subpersonal, and personal theologies, which scholars seeking more embodied theological approaches should consider.