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Loading... The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)by William James
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. _The Varieties of Religious Experience_ builds to the climax of James explaining his philosophy of Pragmatism. What I think is important here to the religion vs. rationalism debate is that James has no time for established religion, dogma, or theology. Rather, he focuses on the mystical, individual life-changing experiences people have in sensing the presence of a higher power. These experiences are as real as falling in love - they are a psychological phenomenon that, according to James, bubble up from the subconscious and have direct, pragmatic, positive effects on a person's life. What is missing here is a discussion of cultural influence on these experiences - why do people in Christian culture only frame these experiences in terms of Christianity? Do people lack a language outside of their culture to describe these mystical experiences? ( ) I marked this classic 4 out of 10 stars or 8 out of 20 stars because of this publisher's format or layout of this edition not because of the original treatise. The original treatise is worth reading and I found it enjoyable to a point but this 2012 edition by Oxford World's Classsics contains just an inordinate quantity of the tiniest scriptface that is too tiny to read safely or comfortably William James is both pragmatic and charismatic no reviews | add a review
Belongs to SeriesGifford Lectures (1900-1902) Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inIs abridged inHas as a studyHas as a student's study guideNotable Lists
Psychology.
Religion & Spirituality.
Sociology.
Nonfiction.
HTML: Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature explores the nature of religion and, in James' observation, its divorce from science when studied academically. After publication in 1902 it quickly became a canonical text of philosophy and psychology, remaining in print through the entire century. "Scientific theories are organically conditioned just as much as religious emotions are; and if we only knew the facts intimately enough, we should doubtless see 'the liver' determining the dicta of the sturdy atheist as decisively as it does those of the Methodist under conviction anxious about his soul. When it alters in one way the blood that percolates it, we get the Methodist, when in another way, we get the atheist form of mind." .No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)291.42Religions Other Religions Comparative Religion; Mythology (No Longer Used) Religious experience, life, practice Religious Psychology and ExperienceLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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