The Varieties of Religious Experience

Standing at the crossroads of psychology and religion, this catalyzing work applied the scientific method to a field abounding in abstract theory. William James believed that individual religious experiences, rather than the precepts of organized religions, were the backbone of the world's religious life. His discussions of conversion, repentance, mysticism and saintliness, and his observations on actual, personal religious experiences - all support this thesis. In his introduction, Martin E. Marty discusses how James's pluralistic view of religion led to his remarkable tolerance of extreme forms of religious behaviour, his challenging, highly original theories, and his welcome lack of pretension in all of his observations on the individual and the divine.

Standing at the crossroads of psychology and religion, this catalyzing work applied the scientific method to a field abounding in abstract theory. William James believed that individual religious experiences, rather than the precepts of organized religions, were the backbone of the world's religious life. His discussions of conversion, repentance, mysticism and saintliness, and his observations on actual, personal religious experiences - all support this thesis. In his introduction, Martin E. Marty discusses how James's pluralistic view of religion led to his remarkable tolerance of extreme forms of religious behaviour, his challenging, highly original theories, and his welcome lack of pretension in all of his observations on the individual and the divine.

The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature is a book by the Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James comprising 20 lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. These lectures concerned the nature of religion and the neglect of science, in James' view, in the academic study of religion. Soon after its publication, the book found its way into the canon of psychology and philosophy, and has remained in print for over a century.

The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature is a book by the Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James comprising 20 lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. These lectures concerned the nature of religion and the neglect of science, in James' view, in the academic study of religion. Soon after its publication, the book found its way into the canon of psychology and philosophy, and has remained in print for over a century.

The Varieties of Religious Experience, by Harvard University psychologist and philosopher William James, comprises his edited Gifford Lectures on natural theology, which were delivered at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, between 1901 and 1902. The lectures explore the psychology of private religious and mystical experiences, using a range of examples to identify commonalities in such experiences across traditions, including those of of such diverse thinkers as Voltaire, Emerson, and Luther. Soon after its publication, the book entered the Western canon of psychology and philosophy and has remained in print ever since. James wrote that his object was two-fold: “first, to defend ‘experience’ against ‘philosophy�� as the real backbone of the world’s religious life; and second, to make the reader believe that the life of religion is mankind’s most important function.” He famously redefined religion as “the feelings, acts, and experiences of individuals in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine.” In his closing remarks, James wonders, “Who knows whether the faithfulness of individuals here below to their own poor over-beliefs may not actually help God in turn to be more effectively faithful to his own greater tasks?” Newly designed and typeset by Waking Lion Press.

2021 Reprint of the 1902 Edition. One of the greatest philosophical minds America ever produced, William James had a genius for the concrete and vivid phrase. He could make the most abstruse of theories at once clear and vivacious. The Varieties of Religious Experience is one of his most brilliant works. In this classic on the psychology of the religious impulse, William James studies such religious phenomena as conversion, repentance, mysticism, saintliness, the hopes of reward and the fears of punishment. He presents his arguments with boldness, sympathy, and the common sense of science. As Jacques Barzun, the distinguished scholar, points out, "The reader of The Varieties will not find James a conventional 'scientist' who uses the facts of physiology or psychology to explain away the facts of religious life . . . As a student of religion, he has illuminated a wonderful variety of recorded experiences by grouping, comparing, and analyzing them. His categories have become standard in the study of religions and indeed have passed into common speech." The result is a book that has become a living force in religious literature. "William James is original, exciting and cosmopolitan . . . a major philosophical planet who whirled on his own axis and drew all of the other pragmatic luminaries into his powerful field."-Morton White, The Age of Analysis. Contents: Religion and neurology -- Circumscription of the topic -- The reality of the unseen -- The religion of healthy-mindedness -- The sick soul -- The divided self, and the process of its unification -- Conversion -- Conversion - concluded -- Saintliness -- The value of saintliness -- Mysticism -- Philosophy -- Other characteristics -- Conclusions -- Postscript.

2021 Reprint of the 1902 Edition. One of the greatest philosophical minds America ever produced, William James had a genius for the concrete and vivid phrase. He could make the most abstruse of theories at once clear and vivacious. The Varieties of Religious Experience is one of his most brilliant works. In this classic on the psychology of the religious impulse, William James studies such religious phenomena as conversion, repentance, mysticism, saintliness, the hopes of reward and the fears of punishment. He presents his arguments with boldness, sympathy, and the common sense of science. As Jacques Barzun, the distinguished scholar, points out, "The reader of The Varieties will not find James a conventional 'scientist' who uses the facts of physiology or psychology to explain away the facts of religious life . . . As a student of religion, he has illuminated a wonderful variety of recorded experiences by grouping, comparing, and analyzing them. His categories have become standard in the study of religions and indeed have passed into common speech." The result is a book that has become a living force in religious literature. "William James is original, exciting and cosmopolitan . . . a major philosophical planet who whirled on his own axis and drew all of the other pragmatic luminaries into his powerful field."-Morton White, The Age of Analysis. Contents: Religion and neurology -- Circumscription of the topic -- The reality of the unseen -- The religion of healthy-mindedness -- The sick soul -- The divided self, and the process of its unification -- Conversion -- Conversion - concluded -- Saintliness -- The value of saintliness -- Mysticism -- Philosophy -- Other characteristics -- Conclusions -- Postscript.