1st Edition
William James and The Varieties of Religious Experience A Centenary Celebration
William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience was an intellectual landmark, paving the way for current study of psychology, philosophy and religious studies. In this new companion to the Varieties, key international experts provide contemporary responses to James's book, exploring its seminal historical importance and its modern significance. Locating the Varieties within the context of James's other works and exploring James's views on psychology, mysticism, religious experience, emotion and truth, the sixteen articles offer new analyses of the Varieties from the perspectives of postcolonial theory, history, social theory and philosophy. As the only critical work dedicated to the cross-disciplinary influence of The Varieties of Religious Experience, this book testifies to William James's genius and ongoing legacy.
Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction The Centenary and the Varieties of Interpretation Jeremy Carrette Section 1: James and the History of Psychology 1. Metaphysics and Consciousness in James's Varieties: Origins, Meaning, and Effects Eugene Taylor 2. Psychologies as Ontology-Making Practices: William James and the Pluralities of Psychological Experience Sonu Shamdasani Section 2: James, Psychology and Religion 3. Listening to James a Century Later: The Varieties as a Resource for Renewing the Psychology of Religion David Wulff 4. The Varieties, the Principles and Psychology of Religion: Unremitting Inspiration from a Different Source Jacob Belzen 5. Passionate Belief: William James, Emotion and Religious Experience Jeremy Carrette Section 3: James and Mysticism 6. For an Engaged Reading: William James and the Varieties of Postmodern Religious Experience Grace Jantzen 7. Asian Religions and Mysticism: The Legacy of William James in the History of Religions Richard King 8: James and Freud on Mysticism Robert Segal 9. Mystical Assessments: Jamesian Reflections on Spiritual Judgements G. William Barnard Section 4: James and Philosophy 10. Varieties of Experience and Pluralities of Perspectives Ruth Putnam 11. The Ecumenicalism of William James Richard Gale 12. James on Truth (Again) Hilary Putnam 13. Pragmatism and Religious Belief in William James Graham Bird 14. William James as a Religious Realist T.L.S. Sprigge 15. James' Arationality and its Religious Extremum in the Light of the Concept of Pure Experience Michel Weber Conclusion Experience and the Value of Religion: Overview and Analysis David C. Lamberth
Biography
Jeremy R. Carrette is Senior Lecturer and Head of Religious Studies at the University of Stirling, Scotland. He co-edited the Routledge Centenary Edition of William James' The Varieties of Religious Experience (2002, edited and introduced with Eugene Taylor), and is co-author with Richard King of Selling Spirituality: The Silent Takeover of Religion (Routledge, 2004). His other publications include Foucault and Religion (Routledge, 1999).
