HADRAT ALI AND WILLIAM JAMES

HADRAT ALI AND WILLIAM JAMES

This writing is comparative study of the philosophy of William James and Hadrat Ali (as).

Fig.1.William James,father of American philosophy.

William James,born in New York in1842(died in1910),was a Philosopher and psychologist responsible for the advancement ofAmerica in every sphere.He is considered as the father ofAmerican philosophy.He put the foundation of the field called'experimental psychology' and is the founder of the philosophy ofradical pragmatism.His Book 'the principles of psychology' is still popular as the text book on psychology.

During my study of William James I have found the parallel of his philosophy and psychology in the teachings of Hadrat Ali,the first Muslim and the fourth caliph of Islam.

Fig.1.1.Veena is a graduate student in the Experimental Psychology program. She is interested in language, memory, and the underlying brain mechanisms. She is currently doing research on reference processing in reading using self paced reading and event-related potential (ERP) methodologies.

Experimental psychology:William James,the father of experimental psychology,propounded that the physical actions and gesture can change the emotional state of a person.It means if you want to become angry just clench your fist and grind your teeth,in a few minutes you will feel that the emotion of anger has taken you in it's grip.And similarly laughing(for no reason) promotes the emotion of happiness and calm to encompass your personality.Well this is the reason for the success of the laughter therapy.if you make it a habit to act like an angry person, in the long run the emotion of anger takes you in its permanent grip and you end up as a short tempered person.Similarly if you act or follow the gesture of a calm and enduring person ,in the long run you end up as a calm and enduring person.In conclusion,our emotions are in our control and we can bring out whatever emotion we like just by adopting the gesturesrelated to the emotion we wish.In our brain(which is a computer) theemotions and their respective gestures exist as programs.When you make a particular gesture,say clenching fists,the brain detects these gesture through the change in blood pressure and muscle movements and finds out the emotion related to it ,in our case anger,and the programme of anger starts running.Similarly we can manipulate other emotions .It means you can be happy whenever you wish and you can be angry whenever you wish.Means if you act like a short tempered person you become one and to the contrary if you act like a forbearing person you become one,this is what Hadrat Ali means when he says,

'If you cannot forbear act to do so because it is seldom that a man likens himself to a group and does not become one of them.'

Nahjulbalagha:saying.203.

Fatigue point:William James,in his principles of psychology,gave evidence that most of us get tired every day not because of actual effort expended but because we make a habit of feeling tired at a given hour.This self imposed limit James called as'fatigue point'.When you continue to work at your fatigue point you suddenly get a burst of energy making you active again,this is called as 'first wind'.When you get tired after the first wind and still continue to work you again become active with the second burst of energy called 'second wind'.In this way you can extend yourfatigue point up to 4Th and 5Th wind.Great men become great by extending their fatigue point.Hadrat Ali mentions about extending ones fatigue point in his following saying,

Fig.2.Forget your sickness portreit.

"Keep walking in your sickness till you can."

Nahjulbalagha .saying.26

Fig.2.1.Picture showing the different aspects of moral character.

Moral character:William James was the first psychologist to point out the now accepted theory that every physical sensation and every physical contact with the outside world leaves a permanent trace among the billion neurons in the brain.Since these impressions are permanent, they are constantly accumulating and the sum total of these impressions is called personality or character.Hence our personality is the sum total of the impressions we make in our brain by our actions.Thus it can be said that we are slaves of our actions.Hence if we practice good habits it for our own good,well,what goes around turns around,as you sow so shall you reap,all these oldies are scientifically valid.In this regard Hadrat Ali says,

'contentment is as good as estate and courtesy is as good as blessing.' Nahjulbalagha:saying.225

If you make courtesy as a habit you are a blessed man,means you will always be happy.Our character determines our happiness and sorrow,a man of ill character can never be happy and a man of good character is always happy even though he may be in rags with meagre sustenance sitting on a garbage dump.The action which we perform daily becomes a permanent force in our life's and play a decisive role in our success and failure.A Good action performed daily becomes apositive force in our life and vice verse.Hadrat Ali says,

"A small action done with regularity is better than a big action done with disgust." Nahjulbalagha:saying.273.

Fig. A bit of pain,anxiety and tension is good for the development of human personality.

Anxiety is good: According to William James a bit of anxiety and tension is very good for mental and physical health(Reader's digest-special collection edition-50Th anniversary-1954to 2004,page 188).Professor Ralph Gerard at the university of Michigan points that the anxiety and tension are good because they bring into use brain cells otherwise inactive,it heightens attention and improves performance releases certain hormones and helps in fast learning at greater speed.Hadrat Ali's view in this scenario is as follows,

'Ignore pain otherwise you will never be happy:ignore pain you will ever be happy.'

Nahjulbalagha:saying.209.

According to Hadrat Ali we should we should make it as a habit to bear pain and if we try to escape pain we shall never be happy because it is not possible to escape pain.Instead of trying to escape form pain we should face pain and become resistant to it.Anxiety,tension and pain are necessary evils which promote the growth of human psyche and personality,as a famous proverb goes,

'sweet are the uses of adversities.'

A daily dose of adversities is like a daily dose of a bitter pill taken for the purpose of long term good health,in this scenario Hadrat Alisays,

'Through change of circumstances the metal of men is known'

Nahjulbalagha:saying.213

Through change of circumstances and new challenges we grow and become a better person.Well,the other name of Hadrat Ali's philosophy is 'Optimism'-B-positive.

Fig. A philosophy or relegion is true only if it promotes the development of human beings or it is beneficial to them in some aspect of worldly life:pragmatism.

Pragmatism:William James is known for his philosophy ofpragmatism according to which the test for truth is simply that it works.It means if humans and societies are getting benefited or developed because of a particular philosophy or religion then there should be some truth in that philosophy or religion.Hence the test for truth is it's cash value.In this context Hadrat Ali says,

'certainly right(truth) is weighty and wholesome(beneficial) while wrong is light and epidemic'.
Nahjulbalagha.saying.371.

According to Hadrat Ali truth is beneficial as well as weighty(it stays for long).Wrong causes epidemic(disease) where as truth brings health,it is wholesome and beneficial.

Mutual behaviour:William James says that if you believe well of your fellow men you create the good you believe in(Reader's digest-50TH anniversary).Tit for tat is not the only tool available when dealing with our fellow human beings,the strategy of forgiveness anddoing good for bad works better,in this scenario Hadrat Ali says,

'Admonish your comrade(friend)by way of good behaviour towards him and ward of his evil by forgiving.'
Nahjulbalagha:saying.156

At other place he(as) says,

'If a person has a good idea about him make his idea true.'

Nahjulbalagha.saying.244