on the varieties of religious experience

He also points out that he’s not interested in early developments, interesting though these might be, he’s looking for later ‘more completely evolved and perfect forms’ (p. At least these limitations are stated front and centre! In this he admits a number of limitations - notably the experiences must be ‘more developed’, written down, and presumably from male sources. He also notes that he will be confining himself to ‘those more developed subjective phenomena recorded in literature produced by articulate and fully self-conscious men, in works of piety and autobiography’ (p. He then admits that he is not a theologian, historian of religion, or anthropologist - he is a psychologist, and as such he will not focus on religious institutions, but on religious feelings and impulses (in other words, the experiences of the individual). Arguably, the entirety of this opening lecture is aimed at establishing a favourable relationship between James and his audience. James opens his work by acknowledging the novelty of an American lecturing Scottish and European scholars, when it is so often the reverse, and though he is flattered to be placed in the situation of addressing an audience he considers to be filled with his superiors, he hopes the trend continues. In the sections below the book’s contents will be outlined and reviewed.Ī copy of the text (albeit in a different edition) is available via Project Gutenberg here: Commentary Lecture I - Religion and Neurology This edition features an introduction by Martin E. Published at the beginning of the twentieth century, The Varieties of Religious Experience is a far-ranging exploration of the psychology and philosophy behind different kinds of religious experiences.

On the varieties of religious experience