The Function of Religious Experience in Giving Meaning to Life from William James’ Point of View

The purpose of this study is to investigate the function of religious experience in making sense of life from William James’ point of view along with the description and analysis of the critiques. He considers the religious experience as a necessary and sufficient condition for discovering meaning. He considers religion as something individual. With the evidence he provides for the subjectivity of emotions and the privacy of the mental life, we find out that James' views correspond with the new science and the specificity of religious experience and its meaning. Also, James' empirical explanations are uncertain and he does not see the need to prove it rationally. Empirical explanations such as search for meaning by all human beings and the falsification of meaning and the reduction of meaning to purpose indicate that the search for meaning is the most fundamental driving force in life and the reason for man’s religious sense. James looks more at the sense of meaning than the meaning itself. James' view of religious experience and meaning is influenced by pragmatic thinking about utility.