The Varieties of Religious Experience

by James, William

• ISBN13: 9780486421643
• ISBN10: 0486421643
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-08-14
• Publisher: Dover Publications

Summary

First-rate study of spirituality documents and discusses a variety of religious states of consciousness, covering the meaning of the term "divine," reality of the unseen, religion of healthy-mindedness, sick soul, divided self and process of its unification, conversion, saintliness, and mysticism. Studded with richly concrete examples; a classic of its genre.

Table of Contents

LECTURE I
Religion and Neurology	1	(25)
Introduction: the course is not anthropological, but deals with personal documents	1	(3)
Questions of fact and Questions of value	4	(2)
In point of fact the religions are often neurotic	6	(4)
Criticism of medical materialism, which condemns religion on that account	10	(1)
Theory that religion has, a sexual origin refuted	11	(3)
All states of mind are neurally conditioned	14	(1)
Their significance must be tested not by their origin but by the value of their fruits	15	(3)
There criteria of value; origin useless as a criterion	18	(4)
Advantages of the psychopathic temperament when a superior intellect goes with it	22	(2)
especially for the religious life	24	(2)
LECTURE II
Circumscription of the Topic	26	(27)
Futility of simple definitions of religion	26	(1)
No one specific `religions sentiment,'	27	(1)
Institutional and personal religion	28	(1)
We confine ourselves to the personal branch	29	(2)
Definition of religion for the purpose of these lectures	31	(1)
Meaning of the term `divine,'	31	(7)
The divine is what prompts solemn reactions	38	(1)
Impossible to make of definitions Sharp	39	(1)
We must study the more extreme cases	40	(1)
Two ways of accepting the universe	41	(4)
Religion is more enthusiastic than philosophy	45	(3)
Its characteristic is enthusiasm in solemn emotion	48	(2)
Its ability to overcome unhappiness	50	(1)
Need of such a faculty from the biological point of view	51	(2)
LECTURE III
The Reality of the Unseen	53	(25)
Percepts versus abstract concepts	53	(1)
Influence of the latter on belief	54	(1)
Kant's theological Ideas	55	(3)
We have a sense of reality other that given by the special senses	58	(1)
Examples of sense of presence	59	(4)
The feeling of unreality	63	(2)
Sense of a divine presence: examples	65	(4)
Mystical experiences: examples	69	(1)
Other cases of sense of God's presence	70	(2)
Convincingness of unreasoned experience	72	(1)
Inferiority of rationalism in establishing belief	73	(2)
Either enthusiasm or solemnity may preponderate in the religious attitude of individuals	75	(3)
LECTURE IV AND V
The Religion of Healthy-mindedness	78	(49)
Happiness is man's chief concern	78	(2)
`Once-born' and, `twice-born' characters	80	(4)
Walt Whitman	84	(2)
Mixed nature of Greek feeling	86	(1)
Systematic healthy-mindedness	87	(1)
Its reasonableness	88	(3)
Liberal Christianity shows it	91	(1)
Optimism as encouraged by Popular Science	92	(2)
The `Mind-cure' movement	94	(3)
Its creed	97	(5)
Cases	102	(4)
Its doctrine evil	106	(2)
Its analogy to Lutheran theology	108	(1)
Salvation by relaxation	109	(3)
Its methods: suggestion	112	(3)
meditation	115	(1)
recollection	116	(2)
verification	118	(4)
Diversity of possible schemes of adaptation to the universe	122	(1)
Appendix: Two mind-Cure cases	123	(4)
LECTURES VI AND VII
The Sick Soul	127	(39)
Healthy-mindedness and repentance	127	(4)
Essential pluralism of the healthy-minded philosophy	131	(3)
Morbid-mindedness -its two degrees	134	(1)
The pain-threshold values in individuals	135	(1)
Insecurity of natural goods	136	(2)
Failure, or vain success every life	138	(2)
Pessimism of all pure naturalism	140	(2)
Hopelessness Greek and Roman view	142	(2)
Pathological unhappiness	144	(1)
`Anhedonia'	145	(3)
Querulous melancholy	148	(2)
Vital zest is a pure gift	150	(1)
Loss of it makes physical Wold look different	151	(1)
Tolstoy	152	(5)
Bunyan	157	(2)
Alline	159	(1)
Morbid fear	160	(2)
Such cases need a supernatural religion for relief	162	(1)
Antagonism of healthy-mindedness and morbidness	163	(1)
The problem of evil cannot be escaped	164	(2)
LECTURE VIII
The Divided Self, and the Process of its Unification	166	(23)
Heterogeneous personality	167	(3)
Charter gradually attains unity	170	(1)
Examples of divided self	171	(4)
The unity attained need not be religious	175	(2)
`Counter conversion' cases	177	(1)
Other case	178	(5)
Gradual and sudden unification	183	(1)
Tolstoy's recovery	184	(2)
Bunyan's	186	(3)
LECTURE IX
Conversion	189	(28)
Case of Stephen Bradley	189	(4)
The psychology of character changes	193	(3)
Emotional excitements make new centres of personal energy	196	(1)
Schematic ways of representing this	197	(1)
Starbuck likens conversion to normal moral ripening	198	(3)
Leuba's ideas	201	(3)
Seemingly unconvertible persons	204	(1)
Two types of conversion	205	(1)
Subconscious incubation of motives	206	(2)
Self-surrender	208	(3)
Its importance in religious history	211	(1)
Cases	212	(5)
LECTURE X
Conversion --- concluded	217	(42)
Cases of sudden conversion	217	(10)
Is suddenness essential?	227	(3)
No, it depends on psychological idiosyncrasy	230	(3)
Proved existence of transmarginal, or subliminal, consciousness	233	(1)
`Automatisms'	234	(2)
Instantaneous conversions seem due to the possession of an active subconscious self by the subject	236	(1)
The value of conversion depends not on the process but on the fruits	237	(1)
These are not superior in sudden conversion	238	(2)
Professor Coe's views	240	(1)
Sanctification as a result	241	(1)
Our psychological account does not exclude direct presence of the Deity	242	(1)
Sense of higher control	243	(3)
Relations of the emotional `faith-state' to intellectual beliefs	246	(1)
Leuba quoted	247	(1)
Characteristics of the faith-state: sense of truth; the world appears new	248	(2)
Sensory and motor automatisms	250	(6)
Permanency of conversions	256	(3)
LECTURES XI, XII, AND XIII
Saintliness	259	(67)
Sainte-Beuve on the State of Grace	260	(1)
Types of character as due to the balance of impulses and inhibitions	261	(1)
Sovereign excitements	262	(2)
Irascibility	264	(2)
Effects of higher excitement in general	266	(1)
The saintly life is ruled by spiritual excitement	267	(1)
This may annul sensual impulses permanently	268	(2)
Probable subconscious influences involved	270	(1)
Mechanical scheme for representing permanent alteration in character	270	(1)
Characteristics of saintliness	271	(3)
Sense of reality of a higher power	274	(4)
Peace of mind charity	278	(6)
Equanimity, fortitude, etc	284	(5)
Connection of this with relaxation	289	(1)
Purity of life	290	(6)
Asceticism	296	(14)
Obedience	310	(5)
Poverty	315	(9)
The sentiments of democracy and of humanity	324	(1)
General effects of higher excitements	325	(1)
LECTURES XIV AND XV
The Value of Saintliness	326	(53)
It must be tested by the human value of its fruits	327	(1)
The reality of the God must however, also be judged	328	(3)
`Unfit, religions get eliminated by `experience'	331	(1)
Empiricism is not skepticism	332	(2)
Individual and tribal religion	334	(1)
Loneliness of religious originators	335	(2)
Corruption follows success	337	(2)
Extravagances	339	(1)
Excessive devoutness, as fanaticism	340	(3)
as theopathic absorption	343	(5)
Excessive purity	348	(7)
Excessive charity	355	(1)
The perfect man is adapted only to the perfect environment	356	(1)
Saints are leavens	357	(3)
Excesses of asceticism	360	(3)
Asceticism symbolically stands for the heroic life	363	(2)
Militarism and voluntary poverty as possible equivalents	365	(4)
Pros and cons of the saintly character	369	(2)
Saints versus `strong' men	371	(3)
Their social function must be considered	374	(1)
Abstractly the saint is the highest type, but in the present environment it may fail, so we make our selves saints at our peril	375	(2)
The question of theological truth	377	(2)
LECTURES XVI AND XVII
Mysticism	379	(51)
Mysticism defined	379	(1)
Four marks of mystic states	380	(2)
They form a distinct region of consciousness	382	(1)
Examples of their lower grades	382	(4)
Mysticism and alcohol	386	(1)
`The anaesthetic revelation,'	387	(6)
Religious mysticism	393	(1)
Aspects of Nature	394	(2)
Consciousness of God	396	(2)
`Cosmic consciousness,'	398	(2)
Yoga	400	(1)
Buddhistic mysticism	401	(1)
Sufism	402	(4)
Christian mystics	406	(2)
Their sense of revelation	408	(6)
Tonic effects of mystic states	414	(2)
They describe by negatives	416	(3)
Sense of union with the Absolute	419	(1)
Mysticism and music	420	(2)
Three conclusions	422	(6)
Mystical states carry and authority for him who has them	423	(1)
But for no one else	424	(3)
Nevertheless, they break down the exclusive authority of rationalistic states	427	(1)
They strengthen monistic and optimistic hypotheses	428	(2)
LECTURE XVIII
Philosophy	430	(28)
Primacy of feeling in religion, philosophy being a secondary function	430	(3)
Intellectualism professes to escape subjective standards in her theological constructions	433	(3)
`Dogmatic theology'	436	(6)
Criticism of its account of God's attributes	442	(2)
`Pragmatism' as a test of the value of conceptions	444	(1)
God's metaphysical attributes have no practical significance	445	(3)
His moral attributes are proved by bad arguments; collapse of systematic theology	448	(1)
Does transcendental idealism fare better? Its principles	449	(1)
Quotations from John Caird	450	(3)
They are good as restatements of religious experience, but uncoercive as reasoned proof	453	(2)
What philosophy can do for religion by transforming herself into `science of religions,'	455	(3)
LECTURE XIX
Other Characteristics	458	(27)
Æsthetic elements in religion	458	(3)
Contrast of Catholicism and Protestantism	461	(1)
Sacrifice and Confession	462	(1)
Prayer	463	(2)
Religion holds that spiritual work is really effected in prayer	465	(2)
Three degrees of opinion as to what is effected	467	(1)
First degree	468	(4)
Second degree	472	(2)
Third degree	474	(4)
Automatisms, their frequency among religious leaders	478	(1)
Jewish cases	479	(2)
Mohammed	481	(1)
Joseph Smith	482	(1)
Religion and the subconscious region in general	483	(2)
LECTURE XX
Conclusions	485	(35)
Summary of religious characteristics	485	(2)
Men's religions need not be identical	487	(2)
`The science of religions' can only suggest, not proclaim, a religious creed	489	(1)
Is religion a `survival' of primitive thought?	490	(1)
Modern science rules out the concept of personality	491	(2)
Anthropomorphism and belief in the personal characterized pre-scientific thought	493	(5)
Personal forces are real, in spite of this	498	(1)
Scientific objects are abstractions, only individualized experiences are concrete	498	(2)
Religion holds by the concrete	500	(4)
Primarily religion is a biological reaction	504	(4)
Its simplest terms are an uneasiness and a deliverance; description of the deliverance	508	(2)
Question of the reality of the higher power	510	(1)
The author's hypotheses:
The subconscious self as intermediating between nature and the higher region	511	(4)
The higher region, or `God,'	515	(3)
He produces real effects in nature	518	(2)
Postscript	520	(9)
Philosophic position of the present work defined as piecemeal supernaturalism	520	(1)
Criticism of universalistic supernaturalism	521	(1)
Different principles must occasion differences in fact	522	(1)
What differences in fact can God's existence occasion?	523	(1)
The question of immortality	524	(1)
Question of God's uniqueness and infinity: religious experience does not settle this question in the affirmative	525	(1)
The pluralistic hypothesis is more conformed to common sense	526	(3)
Index	529