Read complete books and articles on: William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience

James, William - 1842–1910, American philosopher, b. New York City, M.D. Harvard, 1869; son of the Swedenborgian theologian Henry James and brother of the novelist Henry James. In 1872 he joined the Harvard faculty as lecturer on anatomy and physiology, continuing to teach until 1907, after 1880 in the department of psychology and philosophy. In 1890 he published his brilliant and epoch-making Principles of Psychology, in which the seeds of his philosophy are already discernible. James's fascinating style and his broad culture and cosmopolitan outlook made him the most influential American thinker of his day.

His philosophy has three principal aspects—voluntarism, pragmatism, and "radical empiricism." He construes consciousness as essentially active, selective, interested, teleological. We "carve out" our world from "the jointless continuity of space." Will and interest are thus primary; knowledge is instrumental. The true is "only the expedient in our way of thinking." Ideas do not reproduce objects, but prepare for, or lead the way to, them. The function of an idea is to indicate "what conceivable effects of a practical kind the object may involve—what sensations we are to expect from it and what reactions we must prepare." This theory of knowledge James called pragmatism, a term already used by Charles S. Peirce. James's "radical empiricism" is a philosophy of "pure experience," which rejects all transcendent principles and finds experience organized by means of "conjunctive relations" that are as much a matter of direct experience as things themselves. Moreover, James regards consciousness as only one type of conjunctive relation within experience, not as an entity above, or distinct from, its experience. James's other philosophical writings include The Will to Believe (1897), The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), Pragmatism (1907), A Pluralistic Universe (1909), The Meaning of Truth (1909), Some Problems in Philosophy (1911), and Essays in Radical Empiricism (1912).

See his letters (ed. by his son Henry James, 1920); the Harvard Univ. Press edition of The Works of William James (17 vol., 1975–88); biographies by E. C. Moore (1965), G. W. Allen (1967), and L. Simon (1998); R. W. B. Lewis, The Jameses: A Family Narrative (1991); studies by B. P. Brennan (1968), J. Wild (1969), and P. K. Dooley (1974); R. B. Perry, The Thought and Character of William James (2 vol. 1935, abr. ed. 1948) and In the Spirit of William James (1938, repr. 1958); H. S. Levinson, The Religious Investigations of William James (1981); J. Barzun, A Stroll with William James (1984).

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12 of the Best Books and Articles on: William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience

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1.

Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature » Read Now
by William James. 416 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, Entire Library

First published in 1902, The Varieties of Religious Experience initiated the psychological study of religion, paving the way for Freud and Jung as well as for clinical and paranormal branches of psychology. Written with humour and erudition, its theories of conversion, saintliness, ecstasy and...
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First published in 1902, The Varieties of Religious Experience initiated the psychological study of religion, paving the way for Freud and Jung as well as for clinical and paranormal branches of psychology. Written with humour and erudition, its theories of conversion, saintliness, ecstasy and mysticism continue to provoke controversy and inquiry. The book remains the best introduction to James's thought, demonstrating his characteristic insistence upon the importance of personal experience and his almost devotional respect for the mysteries of the human mind. Richly illustrated with personal accounts of belief and possession, intoxication and near-death experience, it is of central importance not simply to an understanding of religions, but to modern psychology and psychiatric medicine.The Routledge Centenary Edition, entirely reset from the original 1902 edition, is prefaced with a specially commissioned foreword by the author's grandson, Micky James, and with new introductions from James specialists Eugene Taylor and Jeremy Carrette. It also includes a new and expanded index.
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2.

William James and "The Varieties of Religious Experience": A Centenary Celebration » Read Now
by Jeremy Carrette. 253 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, Entire Library

William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience was an intellectual landmark, paving the way for current study of psychology, philosophy and religious studies. In this new companion to the Varieties , key international experts provide contemporary responses to James's book, exploring its...
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William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience was an intellectual landmark, paving the way for current study of psychology, philosophy and religious studies. In this new companion to the Varieties , key international experts provide contemporary responses to James's book, exploring its seminal historical importance and its modern significance. Locating the Varieties within the context of James's other works and exploring James's views on psychology, mysticism, religious experience, emotion and truth, the sixteen articles offer new analyses of the Varieties from the perspectives of postcolonial theory, history, social theory and philosophy. As the only critical work dedicated to the cross-disciplinary influence of The Varieties of Religious Experience , this book testifies to William James's genius and ongoing legacy.
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3.

Twice-Born Men: A Clinic in Regeneration; A Footnote in Narrative to Professor William James's "The Varieties of Religious Experience" (1909) » Read Now
by Harold Begbie. 282 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...NARRATIVE TO PROFESSOR WILLIAM JAMESS "THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE" BY HAROLD BEGBIE GROSSET DUNLAP...discovered in a single quarter of the town. In The...
4.

William James: The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902), in First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life » Read Now
by Carol Zaleski. 2 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Literature, Entire Library

...William James The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902...adorable genius." The Varieties of Religious Experience is not his...significance of personal religious...
5.

William James and the Metaphysics of Experience (Chap. 3 "'The Varieties of Religious Experience': Indications of a Philosophy Adapted to Normal Religious Needs") » Read Now
by David C. Lamberth. 256 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, Entire Library

This book offers a new perspective on the philosopher, psychologist, and religious thinker William James. Using biographical materials, manuscripts, and analysis, the author develops the first systematic reading of James' world-view of radical empiricism, which sought to take concrete, immediate...
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This book offers a new perspective on the philosopher, psychologist, and religious thinker William James. Using biographical materials, manuscripts, and analysis, the author develops the first systematic reading of James' world-view of radical empiricism, which sought to take concrete, immediate experience as the basis for understanding the world. The book offers close readings of key works by James. Lamberth argues that religion and philosophy themselves are intimately related conceptually for James; and concludes by relating James' conceptions to present debates concerning truth, religious experience, and theological understandings of the divine.
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6.

Wittgenstein and William James (Chap. 2 "Wittgenstein and The Varieties of Religious Experience") » Read Now
by Russell B. Goodman. 212 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Psychology, Entire Library

This book explores Wittgenstein's long engagement with the work of the pragmatist William James. In contrast to previous discussions, Russell Goodman argues that James exerted a distinctive and pervasive positive influence on Wittgenstein's thought. He shows that both share commitments to...
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This book explores Wittgenstein's long engagement with the work of the pragmatist William James. In contrast to previous discussions, Russell Goodman argues that James exerted a distinctive and pervasive positive influence on Wittgenstein's thought. He shows that both share commitments to anti-foundationalism, to the description of the concrete details of human experience, and to the priority of practice over intellect. Considering in detail what Wittgenstein learnt from his reading of William James, Goodman provides considerable evidence for Wittgenstein's claim that he is saying "something that sounds like pragmatism."
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7.

William James on the Courage to Believe ("Deontology in Varieties of Religious Experience" begins on p. 150) » Read Now
by Robert J. O'Connell. 223 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Psychology, Entire Library

Based on William James' celebrated lecture, 'The Will to Believe', this lively reappraisal features James' arguments on the willingness to believe.
8.

Philosophy in the Twentieth Century: An Anthology, Vol.1 ("The Varieties of Religious Experience: Conclusions and Postscript" begins on p. 259) » Read Now
by William Barrett, Henry D. Aiken. 464 pgs.

Collections: Philosophy, Entire Library

...it has been a shadow over his shoulder in attempting here to make some kind of unified sense out of the varieties of philosophical experience of the twentieth century...
9.

How Religious Experience "Works": Jamesian Pragmatism and Its Warrants, in The Review of Metaphysics » Read Now
by Daniel N. Robinson. 16 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Philosophy, Entire Library

...bounds. (1) The Varieties of Religious Experience is not a theological...surely to and through The Varieties of Religious Experience. Pragmatism of the...1) William James...
10.

"Failure, Then, Failure!": Shame and William James's "Sick Soul," in Cross Currents » Read Now
by Jill L. McNish. 16 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Psychology, Entire Library

...soul" in The Varieties of Religious Experience is certainly...precursor to religious conversion experience, and, indeed, the experiences of psychic anguish...James in...
11.

Risking Belief: Why William James Still Matters, in Commonweal » Read Now
by Charles Taylor. 2 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

...Edinburgh on The Varieties of Religious Experience. I want to...to do with religious experience, albeit in...stands on the cusp between...a matter of the sense...you take...
12.

Is Healthy-Mindedness Healthy?, in Cross Currents » Read Now
by James O. Pawelski. 9 pgs.

Collections: Religious Studies, Entire Library

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