The Varieties of Religious Experience
A Study in Human Nature
James studies religion by setting doctrine aside and examining what conversion, mysticism and despair actually feel like.
James’s 1901-02 Gifford Lectures, and still the most useful book on religion for people who want to understand it rather than adjudicate it. He sets doctrine and institutions aside and studies individual experience: conversion, saintliness, mysticism, the sick soul and the healthy-minded, drawing on first-hand accounts. A psychologist’s approach to faith, sympathetic without believing, and written with unusual clarity for its period.
Recommended by 2 People
Maria Popova
The pioneering psychologist and philosopher William James (January 11, 1842–August 26, 1910) explores this miraculous, world-remaking aspect of love in a passage from The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (public library | free ebook) — the 1902 masterwork based on his Gifford Lectures about science, spirituality, and the human search for meaning.
Mark Zuckerberg
Book Club · August 2015
As an Amazon Associate, bookstoread.org earns from qualifying purchases. Links to Amazon on this page may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. Spotted an error on this page? Tell us and we will fix it.