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He was also one of the first to try to reconcile science and religion. In particular, he was interested in human spiritual experience, a realm that is difficult to capture by logic or observation, and nearly impossible to nail down scientifically.
Yet he found a way. James is the father of the distinctly American philosophy known as Pragmatism, the doctrine that truth reveals itself in practice, regardless of its origins. Something is true if it doesn't contradict known facts and it works.
James thought a belief should be judged by its results. He was more interested in the fruits of an idea than its roots and advised people to look for a truth's "cash value," arguing that a belief is true if it allows you to live a fuller, richer life.
He was particularly interested in showing men and women how to convert misery and unhappiness into growth.