In this classic work William James explores the psychology of religion, applying scientific method to a field that had previously been treated as theoretical, abstract philosophy. This 2002 centenary edition celebrates the 100th anniversary of this landmark text. It includes new introductions by Jeremy Carrette and Eugene Taylor, as well as a fully revised index. James believed that individual religious experiences, rather than the precepts of organized religions, were the backbone of the world's religious life. His discussions of conversion, repentance, mysticism and saintliness and personal religious observations and experiences all support his thesis. James' pluralistic view of religion led to his remarkable tolerance for extreme forms of religious behaviour, a willingness to take risks in formulating his own theories, and a welcome lack of pretentiousness in his observations on how an individual stands in relation to the divine.

Author Biography

William James (1842-1910), the brother of the novelist Henry James, was the founder of experimental psychology in America, and of the philosophy of pragmatism. The Varieties of Religious Experience is his best-known work. Eugene Taylor of the Harvard Medical School is an internationally recognised expert on the life and work of William James, and is the author of William James on Consciousness beyond the Margin (Princeton, 1996) and William James on Exceptional Mental States (Scribner's, 1982). Jeremy Carrette lectures on the psychology of religion at the University of Stirling, and is the author of Foucault and Religion (Routledge, 2000)