PRATT, JAMES B. (1875–1944) was an American philosopher and psychologist of religion. Born James Bissett Pratt in Elmira, New York, and raised in the Presbyterian tradition, Pratt graduated from Williams College in 1898. He returned to the school in 1905 to teach, a post he held until 1943. From 1899 to 1905 Pratt studied philosophy at Harvard, primarily with William James (1842–1910) and Josiah Royce (1855–1916). From 1902 to 1903 Pratt studied in Berlin, valuing especially his work with the philosopher of religion Otto Pfleiderer. Pratt also visited eastern Europe and the Middle East, establishing a habit of travel that informed his comparative religion work. In 1911 Pratt married the Italian-born Catherine Mariotti. That devoted relationship was fundamental in expanding Pratt's Protestant sensibility to a sympathetic approach to Catholicism. Pratt's significance lies in three areas: the psychology of religion, comparative religion, and the philosophy of religion.

Philosophically Pratt was a firm critic of James's pragmatism...