Skip to main content

The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: book review





The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (1902, this edition 2004) is a series of 20 lectures on ‘natural religion’ that psychologist William James conducted at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland from 1901-1902. 

Brother of the writer Henry James, William James (1842-1910) defined religion as ‘the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine.’

James, therefore, defined religion, not by the church that people attend, but by what people do in their everyday life. For James, religion was not a ‘single quality’ but a ‘group of qualities’ that form actions. The lectures that form this book, although with radical views at the time, was considered one of the best works of non-fiction in the 20th century for its intellectual thoughts on religious tolerance and respect. 

The 20 lectures cover topics, such as: (1) religion and neurology, (2) circumscription of the topic, (3) the reality of the unseen, (4 & 5) the religion of healthy mindedness, (6 & 7) the sick soul, (8) the divided self, and the process of its unification, (9) conversion, (10) conversion – concluded, (11, 12 & 13) saintliness, (14 & 15) the value of saintliness, (16 & 17) mysticism, (18) philosophy, (19) other characteristics, and (20) conclusions. 

James draws on a number of sources, studies and themes, including a sense of the divince presence, mystical experiences, pathological unhappiness, character changes, characteristics of the faith-state, saintly life, democracy and humanity, fanaticism, cosmic consciousness, meditation, science of religions, religious leaders, and the pluralistic hypothesis.

From the Quaker to the Christian, from Immanuel Kant to Walt Whitman, from the abstract to the absolute, William James ends with theoretical and practical conclusions. For example, he looks for the commonalities: ‘there is a certian uniform deliverance in which religions all appear to meet.’

This is an interesting philosophical and psychological account of religious tolerance and social cohesion, written over a hundred years ago, from the author’s circuitous lifelong pursuit of the examination of a study in human nature. 


MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing
1 comment
Read more