The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature (Cambridge Library Collection - Philosophy) - Softcover

James, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 110804087X ISBN 13: 9781108040877

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011

Synopsis

The Gifford Lectures were established in 1885 at the universities of St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh to promote the discussion of 'Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term - in other words, the knowledge of God', and some of the world's most influential thinkers have delivered them. The 1901-2 lectures given in Edinburgh by American philosopher William James (1842-1910) are considered by many to be the greatest in the series. The lectures were published in book form in 1902 and have been reprinted many times. James, who was educated in the United States and Europe, and spent much of his career teaching philosophy at Harvard, was very influential in the development of modern psychology, and in these twenty lectures he explores the personal experience of religion. Some of the topics include religion and neurology, 'the sick soul', saintliness, and mysticism.

About this title

Book Description

William James (1842-1910), the pioneering American philosopher and psychologist, was invited to deliver the prestigious Gifford Lectures at Edinburgh University in 1901-2. In this resulting collection of his lectures, published in 1902 and reprinted many times, James explores the theme of personal religious experience.

About the Author

William James (1842 –1910) was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism. He was the brother of novelist Henry James and of diarist Alice James. William James was born at the Astor House in New York City. He was the son of Henry James Sr., an independently wealthy and notoriously eccentric Swedenborgian theologian well acquainted with the literary and intellectual elites of his day. The intellectual brilliance of the James family milieu and the remarkable epistolary talents of several of its members have made them a subject of continuing interest to historians, biographers, and critics. James interacted with a wide array of writers and scholars throughout his life, including his godfather Ralph Waldo Emerson, his godson William James Sidis, as well as Charles Sanders Peirce, Bertrand Russell, Josiah Royce, Ernst Mach, John Dewey, Walter Lippmann, Mark Twain, Horatio Alger, Jr., Henri Bergson and Sigmund Freud.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 110804087X
• ISBN 13: 9781108040877
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 554