Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

read book* *Different edition

The Varieties of Religious Experience (Bedford Series in History & Culture)

by William James, Jacques Barzun (Foreword by), Peter J. Gomes (Introduction)

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 · rating details · 4,043 ratings · 187 reviews

One of America's greatest philosophers, William James was "original, exciting, and cosmopolitan...a major philosophical planet who...drew all...other pragmatic luminaries into his powerful field" (Morton Hunt). In this still timely classic, James examines the range of religious phenomena: conversion, repentance, mysticism, saintliness, the hopes of reward and the fears of...more

Paperback, 480 pages

Published March 4th 2003 by Signet Classics (first published 1902)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jul 06, 2011 Paul marked it as to-read-nonfiction · review of another edition

I had an unusually long conversation with my daughter Georgia (also now a Goodreader) once when she was seven years old (she's now 14) and the matter of eschatology came up, so I asked her directly - well, what does happen when you die? So she laid out what she thinks happens, and I was so taken by the stuff she came out with that I wrote it down. As it's a variety of religious experience I thought it appropriate to include here.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE

Heaven has different parts to it. In one...more I had an unusually long conversation with my daughter Georgia (also now a Goodreader) once when she was seven years old (she's now 14) and the matter of eschatology came up, so I asked her directly - well, what does happen when you die? So she laid out what she thinks happens, and I was so taken by the stuff she came out with that I wrote it down. As it's a variety of religious experience I thought it appropriate to include here.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE

Heaven has different parts to it. In one part there are monsters, but they're good. In another part they're like orcs but they're good. In the third part there are dinosaurs, and they're bad.
Jesus is not in heaven. He is above heaven. He was a normal man but he went on the cross and died and he became magic. He was alive again and turned into an angel. Now he can listen to anyone on the earth just by thinking of their name.
When people die they all go to heaven. It could be the good part or the bad part. When you die you turn into a zombie, but then quite quickly you turn into a skeleton and that's when you go to heaven. The
skeletons in heaven can't see the Earth at all, but to the good orcs Earth appears like the brightest star in the sky. But they have to look down to see it, because they are all upside down.
If you are cremated your ashes float up and turn into your soul. It goes up into a purple porthole. It meets a sorter who asks you what age you want to be and that's what you stay at from then on. In this world everything is slightly see-through. You only spend 1000 years here and then you go to the graveyard and sleep. But one day in each 10 years you come alive again. But this world is not heaven so jesus is not there. The bad people who die become good. For five years out of 1000 they are punished in a house sized prison cell by having to eat all the food they really hate and listen to all the music they really hate.
There is a feather of truth and a catch up course, but I can't remember what they are for.
People have gone into space in rockets but they haven't seen heaven because it is very small.
When animals die, if it's on concrete they fade away and become invisible. If it's on soil, they sink bit by bit into the earth and they become animal zombies. Our hamster Lucy became an animal zombie, but all animal zombies are good, not bad.

Note : don't blame me for any of this, I never allowed her to watch any zombie films intil she was 12! I don't know where she's got any of this stuff apart from orcs.(less)

33 likes · like · see review

May 27, 2010 Abailart rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: psychology, spirit, re-reading

A classic of course, still potent and assured. I return to it for its look at the realism of the 'sick soul'. It comforts me.

It is not religion that is the concern here. Human emotions and feelings are the focus. How these influence a personality could as equally underlay their political orientation, their philosophical orientation, and they do in fact represent how a person actually is in the world: how they relate, how they feel, in short their character. There is an existential edge, of cours...more

7 likes · like · see review

Feb 23, 2009 Stephen rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"I fear that my general philosophic position received so scant a statement as to hardly be intelligible"

That about sums up this text for me. Although the language is beautiful, I never really got a understanding of what the author was trying to prove.

A more apt title for this book is probably "The Varieties of Anglo-American Protestant Religious Experience". There was slight mention of other belief systems (Islam, Sufi-ism, and Hinduism, had small cameos). Even the more interesting Protestant s...more "I fear that my general philosophic position received so scant a statement as to hardly be intelligible"

That about sums up this text for me. Although the language is beautiful, I never really got a understanding of what the author was trying to prove.

A more apt title for this book is probably "The Varieties of Anglo-American Protestant Religious Experience". There was slight mention of other belief systems (Islam, Sufi-ism, and Hinduism, had small cameos). Even the more interesting Protestant sects like the Quakers, Anabaptists, Christian Scientists, and Mormons did not get much ink. So, if you are looking for a survey of different religious beliefs like the title implies, you should look elsewhere. Instead you get kind of a description of different emotional elements that the author supposes are common to all religious experience. He speaks of Healthy-mindedness, which sort of relates to modern new age and heuristic practices, but he is speaking in the 1890's so his examples are of New England style transcendentalism like Emerson or Whitman. "The Sick Soul" deals with excessive negative dwelling on sin or hell-fire. He talks about the quest to find yourself and the powerful conversion experiences that can happen when you do. Then Asceticism (or "Saintliness") and Mysticism are explored. Remember, all of these things are covered with very old-fashioned terms and references making the modern reader wince, so the book sounds better than it actually is. Finally he comes to his conclusions and his suggestion for a science of religion that will find the truths that exist in religiosity in all of its forms and discard the introduced falsehoods. A fine sentiment it is, too bad he didn't spend more time elaborating on that and less time on excessive quotations from questionable sources like letters from an anonymous friend.

This is the second straight non-fiction clunker I have read that was published in the 1890's or early 1900's. I got to thinking that all old non-fiction must be bad. It is all filled with overly flowering prose, bad references, excessive quotations of bad references, and a lack of any strong point or theory behind the writing (good narrative, but for what?) Then I thought about how much I enjoyed "A History of the English Speaking People", or "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", or "A Study of History" and I banished those thoughts from my head. Bad non-fiction is just bad non-fiction regardless of the date of publication. Now that is not to say that William James is a poor writer, because there are beautiful passages here. It is just that modern readers kind of expect a strong statement of a hypothesis and then a gallant effort at backing it up with credible sources and not the meandering (beautiful meandering) and weak sources you get.

(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Jun 25, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: thought-religion

A classic from a very important thinker, as fresh today as when it was written. Although the book has some limitations, such as emphasis on Christianity relative to other religions, one could echo the Bible in saying the world could not contain all the books that might be written on the subject.

James examines a wide range of particulars and boils them down to general facts and some hypotheses, concluding that at the very least, conversion experiences "even for a short time show a human being wh...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jun 05, 2011 Erik Graff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Recommended to Erik by: no one

Shelves: psychology

Being derived from public lectures, The Varieties of Religious Experience is neither a particularly deep nor demanding book. It is, however, both beautifully written and clearly expressed--hallmarks of James' style. Informally unsystematic, the painless effort of going through it will likely present the reader with useful insights, apt examples and challenging arguments.

I was particularly challenged by the idea that some people, what he calls healthy souls, are constitutionally happy. Being to t...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having just read Oliver Sacks's Hallucinations, I decided to plow through a book that has been on my shelf for a long time: The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James.

My reasoning was as follows: Sacks's book offers a neurologist's explanation for almost any imaginable religious phenomenon. In effect, where God is concerned, the human brain can do it all: hear voices, see angels, receive instructions, imagine the unimaginable.

Sacks did not set out to prove that God doesn't exist,...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jul 07, 2012 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pros: I am not unbiased in this assessment. I am a fan of William James, so I am trying to restrain myself from gushing on and on. James takes on mysticism and subjective religious experience in this excellent set of lectures. He explains and attempts to systematize ways to evaluate claims of mystical experience. His apporach is subjective rather than objective ("spiritual" rather than "existential," in James' words), and I think he makes some rather valid points concerning how we judge the fait...more

like · see review

Jul 03, 2012 Geoffrey Fox rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

To try to make sense of the religious fanaticism that either inspires or serves as a pretext for so much of the violence and destruction we are watching at this moment, I turned to this book, which I had long intended to read. It has been a great pleasure to be in the company of such a rational, good-willed and articulate thinker for nearly 500 pages. I was interested in the subject matter, and amazed by many of the examples he quotes of extreme religious devotion (though the quoted passages are...more To try to make sense of the religious fanaticism that either inspires or serves as a pretext for so much of the violence and destruction we are watching at this moment, I turned to this book, which I had long intended to read. It has been a great pleasure to be in the company of such a rational, good-willed and articulate thinker for nearly 500 pages. I was interested in the subject matter, and amazed by many of the examples he quotes of extreme religious devotion (though the quoted passages are sometimes too tediously extensive), but most of all I was interested in his method. He was working out a way to think rationally about irrational, or supra-rational, experiences.

With a very courteous acknowledgement of "[a]n American philosopher of eminent originality, Mr. Charles Sanders Peirce," he adopts Peirce's name for the method, pragmatism, and paraphrases Peirce's 1878 article laying out its principles. ("How to Make Our Ideas Clear", Popular Science Monthly, v. 12, pp. 286–302. Reprinted widely, including Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce).

I won't try to summarize the entire book here; summaries are readily available in Wikipedia and other 'net sources. James is not at all a conventional church-going believer, and confesses that he has no gift for any mystical experience at all. However, unlike such uncompromising atheists as Richard Dawkins or Daniel Dennett, he respects the authentic (i.e., not play-acting) prophets and mystics as possessors of a kind of "truth," one which is irrefutably true for them: Santa Teresa, San Juan de la Cruz, George Fox, Joseph Smith, Luther, Gautama Buddha, Mohammed and many others, including Mary Baker Eddy. However, the felt truth of these experiences (visions of God, for example) does not mean they should be accepted as true by anyone who has not personally had them. "The gods we stand by are the gods we need and can use, the gods whose demands on us are reinforcements of our demands on ourselves and on one another," he writes in the 14th lecture, "The Value of Saintliness." (p. 303)

He separates the question of the source of religious vision, which may be anything from an epileptic fit (e.g., St. Paul) to herbal intoxication or simply deep inward reflection, from its "truth," by which he means something like its practical utility. He quotes extensive psychological research (in particular, the studies of a Dr. Starbuck in California) to affirm that "conversion" is an almost universal experience of adolescence, because it is psychologically necessary. By conversion he means a turning away from the chaotic and contradictory messages that assail every young person to find some "process of unification of the self" which always brings "a characteristic sort of relief; and never such extreme relief as when it is cast into the religious mould. Happiness! happiness! religion is only one of the ways in which men gain that gift." (p. 163)

That's because the conversion need not be toward religion. "The new birth may be away from religion into incredulity; or it may be from moral scrupulosity into freedom and license; or it may be produced by the irruption into the individual's life of some new stimulus or passion, such as love, ambition, cupidity, revenge, or patriotic demotion." (163-164) Whatever works for you. For many of us, and apparently for James himself, the "new birth" was into incredulity, i.e., non-believing in a deity. Although James retained some doubt (see his "Conclusions"). After all, his father was a noted Swedenborgian philosopher.

But James is concerned not only about the utility of religious experience for the individual believer, but also about its social utility, its consequences for human society generally. While his language is not entirely clear here, it appears that he does not accept as pragmatic "truth" the kinds of religious sentiment that he calls extreme "Devoutness." "When unbalanced, one of its vices is called Fanaticism. Fanaticism is only loyalty carried to a convulsive extreme. ... The Buddha and Mohammed and their companions and many Christian saints are incrusted with a heavy jewelry of anecdotes which are meant to be honorific, but are simply abgeschmackt and silly, and form a touching expression of man's misguided propensity to praise. ... An immediate consequence of this condition is jealousy for the deity's honor." (310-311) Which leads to such absurdities as the riots over Danish cartoons, or Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's placement of the 2.6-ton granite monument of the Ten Commandments in the state building.

I think James was right to respect the personal truth of serious religious believers, and equally right to insist that their truth need not be anybody else's and certainly should not be imposed on anyone. We all have "spiritual" needs, he thinks -- that is, we need some way to put together our otherwise fragmenting "self." (James' notion of "self" seems to anticipate Dennett's formulation of it as "the center of narrative gravity.") But we don't all need to do it the same way. A coherent atheism, or a "healthy-minded" optimism, or a born-again union with the One, are equally valid ways to achieve the "gift" of "happiness," or integration of the self. Whether they are equally good or not depends on their consequences, not only for ourselves individually but in our actions on behalf of others. Makes sense to me.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jun 04, 2012 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

While I do not favor James' approach to the investigation of religion or religious experience, I nonetheless found his broad survey a profitable and illuminating read. The fundamental underlying premise of the book is the fact/value distinction and non-reducebility of one to the other. The factual aspects of reality are grasped in existential judgements and the aspects of meaning or significance are grasped in value judgements. It is the latter that James has an interest in exploring in regard t...more

like · see review

Feb 29, 2012 Karen Hanson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: didn-t-finish

To be honest I didn't finish this whole book. I began reading this while on my own religious journey and found it to be a great resource to understand the different feelings and experiences I had along the way. I sort of stopped and started this book as my journey progressed because it helped me to relate to the continuing evolving ideas that were put forth. I actually recommend reading the book this way as it's hard to relate to things like the "dark night of the soul" if you've never been thro...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 16, 2011 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, religion, spirituality

This classic on the experiential aspects of religion is as fresh, relevant, and authoritative as when it was published in 1902.

The qualities of James's mind made him superbly well equipped to write a book such as this, for as a thinker he was penetrating, perceptive, objective, skeptical, candid, courageous, and open-minded. He was also deeply read in philosophy and science, and expressed himself with clarity and humor.

The book is composed of a series of talks James gave as Gifford Lecturer on N...more This classic on the experiential aspects of religion is as fresh, relevant, and authoritative as when it was published in 1902.

The qualities of James's mind made him superbly well equipped to write a book such as this, for as a thinker he was penetrating, perceptive, objective, skeptical, candid, courageous, and open-minded. He was also deeply read in philosophy and science, and expressed himself with clarity and humor.

The book is composed of a series of talks James gave as Gifford Lecturer on Natural Religion at the University of Edinburgh, and covers the key experiences and attitudes that we tend to call religious: the sense of the "reality of the unseen", for example, and the feelings of sin and beatitude, as well as conversion, saintliness, mysticism, and the relationship of philosophy to religion.

James treats all these phenomena with interest and respect. His attitude is scientific and impartial, and from these lectures it is not possible to tell where his own spiritual convictions lie.

In all, James demonstrates with a wide range of striking examples and case studies the breadth, depth, and power of the human experience of religion in its widest sense, and shows why scientific and philosophical critiques of "religion" invariably miss their target and never succeed. The experience of religious feeling is a distinct and powerful class of human emotions, and efforts to rationalize this away are never convincing, certainly not to those who have experienced the emotions. Rudolf Otto, in his landmark book The Idea of the Holy, even as he patronizes James as a "rationalist" and a "pragmatist", nonetheless leans on him for support in his own argument that the experience of the sacred is a unique and all-important aspect of human life.

This is one of the best books on religion or spirituality ever written, and it is all the better for not being written by a cleric, mystic, practitioner, or other apologist for any branded faith. One of the most important books of the 20th century.(less)

like · see review

Feb 23, 2011 Bob Nichols rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Given his reputation as a thinker and writer, this is a disappointing book on substance and style.

James delves into the wide variety of transcendent (the "Reality of the Unseen") experiences and provides many anecdotal accounts to illustrate them. Given James' background in psychology, and the likely influence of Darwinian theory on philosophical pragmatism ("Truth" is what best works), it is surprising that James accepts these accounts at face value without questioning whether other underlying...more Given his reputation as a thinker and writer, this is a disappointing book on substance and style.

James delves into the wide variety of transcendent (the "Reality of the Unseen") experiences and provides many anecdotal accounts to illustrate them. Given James' background in psychology, and the likely influence of Darwinian theory on philosophical pragmatism ("Truth" is what best works), it is surprising that James accepts these accounts at face value without questioning whether other underlying factors may be at work. Does the transcendent exist, or do we create it because of internal need? Is it the transcendent that is experienced, or is it the product of our extended, ontological imagination? Is religious devotion an allegiance to an alpha archetype figure that is an extension of our allegiance to our earth-based leaders? Why is self-sacrifice and asceticism anything other than displaying one's extreme devotion to the alpha (protective, all-powerful) leader and thus, an assurance of one's place in eternity?

James doesn't ask these questions. In fact, he goes the other way and argues that those who do not have transcendent experiences have some version of a "world sick soul." In that camp he puts the Stoics and Epicureans. While he has a point with the Stoics, the Epicureans perhaps figured out how to enjoy this life, healthily, without the transcendent, saintly, mystical trappings that James argues constitute a healthy soul. James does not budge on this point. Secular man in his view does not touch the experiences of the twice born. The twice born have certain, higher-level characteristics, including a feeling of compassion and love for life that the earth-bound do not have. Yet, given the problems on this earth, it is valid to question whether the single minded, meditative, cloistered devotion to the "one" is selfishness (e.g., "I am o.k. for I am with the Father."). Compassion for or with God may very well be a different species than compassion for our species, or all species, on this earth.

James appears (to be fair, it's not so clear) to put himself in the twice-born enlightened category. He believes in "refined and universalistic supernaturalism" and here he covers all the bases. "Refined" means some sort of transcendent presence without any divine intervention in daily life. "Universalistic naturalism" means he remains true to his scientific roots and natural law, and this concept also allows his pragmatic theology to remain grounded in practical utility. "Super" means that there's more than naturalism and he stays in touch with that part of (super) reality through "prayerful communion." While it could be that James is communing with himself, nowhere in this very long book does he raise that as a possibility.

On the style issue, a better book would have been to focus on these types of questions and issues rather than his many well-turned sentences. While we know from this book that James knows German, Latin, Greek and French, more than a few key points were lost because there was no translation. Over and over again, James apologies for having to be so brief, yet more brevity may have offered more focus and clarity. (less)

1 like · like · see review

Feb 22, 2011 Urban 53 rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Many years after first reading this philosopical/psychological classic by William James, it remains so very timely in its major endeavor to respect, describe, and (inadequately) categorize religious experience. This work comprises his compiled Gifford Lectures from 1901-02, and still stands as one of the most cogent presentations against scientism (the belief that all that can be validly known is by the sensory-based, empirical method) as well as a door-opening, psychological acknowledgement of...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 29, 2009 Trevor rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, psychology, social-theory, religion

I have heard of this book for years and have meant to look into it for about as long – but earlier this year I read a book called Ghost Hunters William James and the Search for Scientific Proof of Life After Death and that made me more curious about James and his philosophy. I had read some of his philosophy at University, but not really a lot.

I had no idea this would be quite so long. I also had no idea this was based on a series of twenty lectures he gave at the University of Edinburgh between...more

15 likes · like · see review

Dec 17, 2010 Robert rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, psychology

This book was a catalyst for further research on this subject. The climax of the book, I think, is the chapter on mysticism. Although all spiritual and aesthetic experiences are grounded in mystical states of consciousness, it is the mystical experience itself that James claims to be of paramount importance. He describes the common characteristics:

1. Ineffability - The structure of language seems to be completely unable to communicate the experience. They seem to transcend creeds and doctrines a...more

like · see review

May 05, 2010 FiveBooks added it · review of another edition

Shelves: fivebooks-on-reason

American novelist and professor of philosophy Rebecca Newberger Goldstein has chosen to discuss William James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience on FiveBooks as one of the top five on her subject - Reason and its Limitations, saying that:

“…This is all about the phenomenology of religion, what it feels like from the inside. You get the feeling with James that he would love to have one of these extraordinary religious experiences. The things he describes are frankly quite mad. These people a...more

like · see review

Jun 21, 2007 Leonard Houx rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: shitheads

i read this book because i felt i was supposed to. i don't think this is a bad reason to read a book, but in this case i was wrong. the book is, for the most part, stupid and overrated. certain thinkers believe that once they have achieved a certain stature, they can say anything they want. at no point does the book adress the problem that these 'religious experiences' are *based* on delusional beliefs.

1 like · like · see review

Aug 05, 2011 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. James' book is a psychological study in what constitutes a religious experience. For James, personal spirituality is at the heart of religion. And since religion is spiritually individualistic, in America, it has to be pluralistic. In his defense of pluralism, he echoes St. Paul's assertion that "we are many parts with different functions but all one body in Christ." He also states that understanding religious doctrine is not the same thing as experiencing it and thus one cannot prove religion e...more

like · see review

Aug 12, 2012 Steve rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A little bit of Oliver Sachs style freak showmanship, a little bit of psychology (as it was reasoned in 1901) and quite a bit of deft philosophical manuevering. William James is an intellectual titan, and quite obviously a witty and well-reasoned lecturer.
But, he came before Popper, and so he isn't in the business of self-falsification, so the little buzz I get in the back of my head when I feel someone is making unfounded claims was jammed down for practically the length of this series.
This bo...more

like · see review

Oct 27, 2011 David S. T. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: philosophy, nonfiction, religion, read-in-2011

This book was okay, there were some interesting parts but it was sometimes hard to finish because it was often just quote after quote and lots of anecdote examples of religious experience. This was okay and interesting at first but it sometimes became a chore to continue. I'd be willing to bet that almost half of this book is nothing more than direct quotes from people who had a so called religious experiences and almost everyone of these quotes were from Christians (I can only remember one non...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 27, 2009 Rika added it · review of another edition

Shelves: agama, bahasa-inggris, non-fiksi, belum-selesai

Sudah lama aku mendengar buku ini karena aku pernah kuliah di fakultas psikologi. Sewaktu perusahaan penerbitan tempatku dulu pernah bekerja memberiku tugas untuk menyuntingnya, dengan penuh semangat aku mengerjakannya. Tapi...apa boleh buat, aku tak pernah berhasil menyelesaikan tugasku karena aku keburu pindah kota, pindah kantor. Lagipula, ini buku yang teramat sulit. Bahasa yang digunakan adalah bahasa jadul, tahun..mmm berapa ya..1800-an atau 1900-an awal. Tambahan lagi, kalo tidak salah in...more

like · see review

Aug 20, 2011 Martha added it · review of another edition

Shelves: f-philosophy, l-american, read-2011-12

Reading this book, I fluctuated between various reactions. Total absorption, because the whole set-up of the book is new and eye-opening. I have never seen religion examined from a purely pragmatic perspective, nor have I ever read anything that focused exclusively on the individual relationship of one human to the divine, sans all the traditional trappings, nor have I seen characteristics of religious experience connected to a range of other phenomena (drunkenness, ghostly visions, optimism, di...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 19, 2009 Gary rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Through a series of lectures, Psychologist William James identifies various types of religious experiences, and tries to get at the bottom of where these experiences emanate, and what importance they are to human beings. In this study, he is more interested in the psychology and philosophy behind the religious experience, and the various ways that people have experienced God or some divine presence, than organized religion per se. He tends to focus more on religious experience from a phenomenal...more

like · see review

Sep 21, 2011 Pamela rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Fascinating. James aims to describe and classify the various types of mystical religious experiences that have been reported over the centuries by those who experienced them. He points out near-universals in these experiences and concludes that there are other types of reality that we are not normally conscious of and that mystical states give us some hint of. I appreciate James's perspective--which is that of a person who doesn't experience these states himself but has respect for them and is n...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 31, 2013 Bob James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this several years ago. The James writers are very intriguing. (I like to think I am related to them) Henry and William are very unique in their own ways. William, considered by many the Father of Psychology in America, he devoted this series of lectures he gave in Edinburough, Scotland, his father who was a Presbyterian minister, has an incredibly smooth and interesting descriptive writing style. His study of the world's variety of religious expression as they were known in the early 190...more

like · see review

May 20, 2012 John Carncross rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read some of this, so I know just enough to be dangerous:) James reviews several journals of founders of religious sects. He notes that most of them exhibit signs of psychosis. He argues, interestingly, that religious truth may burn slightly hotter in the mind. And that, it is not necessarily true that what people with psychosis say is untrue or not valuable to sane people. He notes the prevalence of many artist and writers who struggled with mental illness; our society values their work highl...more

1 like · like · see review

May 30, 2012 John Martindale rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, social-psychology, philosophy, religion, favorites, audiobook

While making my way through “Varieties of Religious Experience” By William James, I enjoyed reading about several religious conversions of the most dramatic kind, James wrote that in many cases, what is “attained is often an altogether new level of spiritual vitality, a relatively heroic level, in which impossible things have become possible, and new energies and endurances are shown. The personality is changed, the man is born anew, whether or not his psychological idiosyncrasies are what give...more While making my way through “Varieties of Religious Experience” By William James, I enjoyed reading about several religious conversions of the most dramatic kind, James wrote that in many cases, what is “attained is often an altogether new level of spiritual vitality, a relatively heroic level, in which impossible things have become possible, and new energies and endurances are shown. The personality is changed, the man is born anew, whether or not his psychological idiosyncrasies are what give the particular shape to his metamorphosis. "Sanctification" is the technical name of this result” James, is seeking to explore the psychological mechanisms responsible for such swift and instant changes. His conclusions center around the Subliminal, he writes “just as our primary wide-awake consciousness throws open our senses to the touch of things material so it is logically conceivable that if there be higher spiritual agencies that can directly touch us, the psychological condition of their doing so might be our possession of a subconscious region which alone should yield access to them. The hubbub of the waking life might close a door which in the dreamy Subliminal might remain ajar or open... The notion of a subconscious self certainly ought not at this point of our inquiry to be held to EXCLUDE all notion of a higher penetration. If there be higher powers able to impress us, they may get access to us only through the subliminal door.” There are many testimonies of hopeless alcoholics who have a striking religious experience and never touch the bottle again. Yet, James mentions how a session of suggestive therapeutics, has helped smokers break their seemingly unbreakable habit of smoking. If I understand right, in suggestive therapeutics, the therapist waits for until the patient is in a deeply relaxed state where the subliminal is highly suggestible, and then gives positive suggestions, which has resulted expeditious changes.
James writes “Professor Coe has analyzed the cases of seventy-seven converts or ex-candidates for conversion, known to him, and the results strikingly confirm the view that sudden conversion is connected with the possession of an active subliminal self. Examining his subjects with reference to their hypnotic sensibility and to such automatisms as hypnagogic hallucinations, odd impulses, religious dreams about the time of their conversion, etc., he found these relatively much more frequent in the group of converts whose transformation had been "striking," "striking" transformation being defined as a change which, though not necessarily instantaneous, seems to the subject of it to be distinctly different from a process of growth, however rapid” And elsewhere he wrote “...if you should expose to a converting influence a subject in whom three factors unite: first, pronounced emotional sensibility; second, tendency to automatisms; and third, suggestibility of the passive type; you might then safely predict the result: there would be a sudden conversion, a transformation of the striking kind.” And then upon reflection upon those who go to revivals, but never have any special experience, how this may be “...if his conscious fields have a hard rind of a margin that resists incursions from beyond it, his conversion must he gradual if it occur, and must resemble any simple growth into new habits.”

All of this was fascinating to me, for I have wondered about the “why” and “how” of instantaneous transformation. Those time when its like the switch is flipped and everything dramatically changes. I have always felt the helpless bystander, waiting and hoping for that something to finally click. Until this happens, it seems like all efforts to change for the better are mere futile attempts that will come to nothing. Its like trying fly a kite with no wind, the only way to keep it up is to run, the moment one grows weary it crashes to the ground(less)

like · see review

Aug 07, 2011 Todd added it · review of another edition

A superior work. No small surprise that it has been in print since it's first publication. The 'Varieties' is not just an examination, it is a search for the validity of religion, the truth, and the unity. It is not a promotion nor a tearing-down, it does not walk with a particular faith. It is a scientific and philosophic look at religion and one that does not simply dismiss faith as foolish primitive hogwash. In fact, it extols the virtues of the saintly people and examines the incredible effe...more

like · see review

Feb 23, 2013 Hans rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: religious, spiritual-development

Must read for anyone plagued by the question of the purpose of religion and whether or not it has a place for you in your life. If you were to ask William James, the great Pre-freudian American Psychologist/Philosopher he would say to you "it depends.... on what you're looking for".

I love his perspective on religion, he has a very pragmatic approach to an otherwise Frustrating topic. He looks at religion objectively without getting into specific doctrines. He is more concerned about if religion/...more

like · see review

Dec 29, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I probably should have given this 4 stars because it is a "classic," but since it is over 100 years old, it is somewhat outdated, which is saying a lot for a century. James gave a series of lectures about religious experience and, unusual for the time, spoke of personal experiences rather than denominations. Although he does mention eastern religions, he bases most of his stories in the Christian tradition. However, he was an expert in his time, and one can see why this continues to be read.

For...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Word size	3	24	Dec 28, 2012 09:11pm
Micron Associates, Elderly woman who botched religious fresco demands royalties	2	3	Nov 11, 2012 07:34pm

combine
Other Editions (156)

More editions...

Genres

Religion

217 users

Philosophy

208 users

Psychology

140 users

Non Fiction

99 users

Spirituality

42 users

Classics

26 users

Science

17 users

Religion > Theology

13 users

History

10 users

Philosophy > Theory

6 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About William James

There is more than one author by this name on Goodreads.

More about William James...

Books by William James

Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking

Writings 1902-1910: The Varieties of Religious Experience/Pragmatism/A Pluralistic Universe/The Meaning of Truth/Some Problems of Philosophy/Essays (Library of America #38)

The Will to Believe and Human Immortality

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Varieties of ...

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Varieties of Relig...

“Good-humor is a philosophic state of mind; it seems to say to Nature that we take her no more seriously than she takes us. I maintain that one should always talk of philosophy with a smile.” — 29 people liked it

“Knowledge about life is one thing; effective occupation of a place in life, with its dynamic currents passing through your being, is another.” — 23 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Varieties of Religious Experience
avg rating	preview: The Varieties of Religious Experience Goodreads rating: 4.08 (4043 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/435728.The_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1174757961l/435728.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/435728.The_Varieties_of_Religious_Experience?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James[/url]

The Varieties of Religious Experience (Bedford Series in History & Culture)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website