William James in his work "Religious Experience as the Root of Religion" argued that there is no validity in the claim of rationalism to assert the existence of only one consciousness. He based this off the foundation that the human being first perceives reality through the senses and that the human intellect comes into action after the individual feels the occurring experience.
             James attempted to expand his argument through objectively drawing factual evidence from what he referred to as a "mystical state of consciousness," in order to bring about a broader realm of truth outside of rationalism. Through logic James concluded that there were three statements of authority: 1) that mystical states have authority over those individuals having the experience, 2) that no authority could come from the mystical experience of the individual, and 3) that the mystical state shattered any rationalistic claim that held objectivity to be the sole revealer of truth.
             The first statement of authority is founded upon the cornerstone that the human being gathers facts through his senses. James stated that rational and mystical beliefs are based upon "evidence exactly similar in nature." Thus, logic would permit James to find that facts gathered through objective means have no authority over the facts gathered from mystical means. Due to this finding, James declared that the validity of the mystical experience is left to the individual as an issue of faith.
             James stated that the most an individual can ask of a rationalist is to see his faithful assumption. In this latter statement James supported his second main point of authority, that there is no requirement for the rationalist to accept the individual's personal testimony of the mystical experience as factual, for faith is based not on fact, but on experience. Ruling out the individual's assumption as a logical means, James turned to the ar...