Understanding How Religion Functions Pragmatically

Abstract

Religion is a shared experience amongst humans. It enlightens and transcends individuals as well as guides them between morally right and wrong. While religion is as much personal choice as it is personal belief, many often don't realize why they are choosing religion. In fact, it seems to be that a majority of those that are religious rarely ever question why they are religious to begin with. Religion is hard too narrowly define, and it comes in all different shapes and sizes. To better understand why we as humans are religious, this paper draws conclusions from the works of William James, Émile Durkheim, and Maxwell Müller. Within this paper, the goal is to better examine the philosophical, sociological, and psychological aspects of religion, and to better understand how religion functions pragmatically for the individual.