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There can be no doubt that as a matter of fact a religious life, exclusively pursued, does tend to make the person exceptional and eccentric. I speak not now of your ordinary religious believer, who follows the conventional observances of his country, whether it be Buddhist,... Read Full Overview

Standing at the crossroads of psychology and religion, this catalyzing work applied the scientific method to a field abounding in abstract theory. William James believed that individual religious experiences, rather than the precepts of organized religions, were the backbone... Read Full Overview

This book would never have been written had I not been honored with an appointment as Gifford Lecturer on Natural Religion at the University of Edinburgh. In casting about me for subjects of the two courses of ten lectures each for which I thus became responsible, it seemed to... Read Full Overview

The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature is a book by the Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James comprising 20 lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. These lectures concerned the nature of religion and the neglect of science,... Read Full Overview

Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time The Varieties of Religious Experience was an immediate bestseller upon its publication in June 1902. Reflecting the pluralistic views of psychologist turned philosopher William James, it posits... Read Full 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... Read Full Overview

"The Varieties of Religious Experience" by William James is one of the greatest and most readable books ever written on the subject of religion. While James is not making a "case" for belief here, or any case for any particular religious "system", he does study religious experience,... Read Full Overview

First published in 1902, "The Varieties of Religious Experience" is William James' philosophical and psychological examination of the nature of religion in human civilization. Based on James's own Gifford Lectures given at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland between 1901... Read Full Overview

William James was an American philosopher and psychologist who is considered to be one of the greatest thinkers of the late 19th century. James has often been labeled as the "Father of American psychology".

American pastoral counseling movement, and beyond its role in spawning the psychology of religion, it remains a book that empowers individuals and inspires readers with erudition, insight, and kindness. No discussion of current religion - from the fundamentalist revival to the... Read Full Overview

William James was a leading American philosopher and psychologist in the 19th century. James was the first person to offer a psychology course in the United States and he is often referred to as the Father of American psychology. James's brother, Henry, was also a famous author.The... Read Full Overview

William James (January 11, 1842 - August 27, 1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James was a leading thinker of the late nineteenth century, one of the most influential U.S. philosophers,... Read Full Overview

These lectures concerned the nature of religion and the neglect of science, in James' view, in the academic study of religion. Soon after its publication, the book entered the canon of psychology and philosophy, and has remained in print for over a century.

"A milestone in religious thought. . . . James combines a positive approach to religion with a non-dogmatic and thoroughly empirical approach to the religious life. The combination is not only rare but creative." -Reinhold Niebuhr

Excerpt from The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature; Being the Gifford Lectures on Natural Religion Delivered at Edinburgh in 1901-1902 Nliver the gipr'ord lectures in Edinburgh was at once a tribute to him and a reward for the university that sponsored... Read Full Overview