The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature

By William James and Dr. William James

Book Overview

The Varieties of Religious Experience is William James's classic survey of religious belief. With psychological insight and philosophical rigor, James wrote a truly foundational text for modern belief. Matthew Bradley's wide-ranging new edition--the most critically up-to-date and inclusive edition of James's masterpiece available in paperback--showcases ideas that continue to fuel modern debates on atheism and faith. His introduction stresses the book's significance in the relationship between religion and culture, discusses its ideas and their contemporary interest, and places the book within James's biographical, intellectual, and literary background. The explanatory notes identify key figures and contexts, and provide links with James's other work.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0199691649
• ISBN13: 9780199691647
• Release Date: July 2012
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.0" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

A Great Book by a Great Man

The previous reviews are very good descriptions of this book. I'd like to reiterate that it helps while reading to remember that this is primarily a study of many case histories of very personal and profound experiences with God. They are mostly in the form of excerpts from autobiographies and memoirs, mainly Christian and contemporary (the book was published in 1903), but many also from other times and faiths. There is no addressing the pros and cons of organized religion here, or, for that matter, of questions like whether miracles really happen, etc.This book is a microcosm, though. James touches on so many matters of religion and, indeed, life and philosophy overall that the book makes valuable reading for anyone interested in humans generally.He talks, of necessity, quite a bit about the subconscious, which had just recently been "invented," showing that profound religious experiences comes from there, though that doesn't mean that they're not of divine origin: perhaps it's our subconscious self that connects to God.James then analyzes these experiences from the pragmatic point of view of, Are these experiences healthy? What are their "fruits"?But there are no ultimate "Answers" of the kind you find suggested in other works of philosophy or theology. Despite some heady speculation towards the end, James sticks to the facts, and never expects his audience to accept anything unproven.Especially interesting, I thought, were the descriptions of "conversion," a two-fold experience consisting of spiritual crisis and of release from that crisis and the reaching of a profound state of surety and, usually, happiness. Besides many others, he describes the conversion processes of John Bunyan (a schizophrenic) and Leo Tolstoy. James makes the very interesting comparison of the process (nowadays called "being born again") with the natural process of adolescence, and speculates that conversion crisis, as encouraged by the Protestant churches, is perhaps one of the healthiest and safest ways of attaining adulthood.Also fascinating is James' description of "the Healthy-minded Individual," who is born with a trusting assurance of God's loving presence, and who never goes through any crisis of conversion because he doesn't need to. I myself would doubt the existence of these lucky people, but then I recalled a person (my children's teacher) who is always cheerful, energetic, and kind, and who I sincerely believe has never lost her temper or been anything more than necessarily stern with her students, parents, and other teachers. She has a profound, almost instinctive, faith in God. That for me is living proof of the veracity of James' categories and conclusions.And James' own almost chivalrous kindness, honesty, and respect for us, his audience make me feel that he himself, whether "once-" or "twice-born," had reached that higher level of morality and happiness; it made reading this book a profound and inspiring experi