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Index:The varieties of religious experience, a study in human nature.djvu

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Title The Varieties of Religious Experience
Author William James
Year 1902
Publisher Longmans
Location New York
Source djvu
Progress Done—All pages of the work proper are validated
Transclusion Fully transcluded
Validated in December 2012
Pages (key to Page Status)
Cover - - - - ii Title iv v vi vii viii ix x xi xii 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 417 418 419 420 421 422 423 424 425 426 427 428 429 430 431 432 433 434 435 436 437 438 439 440 441 442 443 444 445 446 447 448 449 450 451 452 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 501 502 503 504 505 506 507 508 509 510 511 512 513 514 515 516 517 518 519 520 521 522 523 524 525 526 527 - 529 530 531 532 533 534 - - - - - Cover

CONTENTS


LECTURE I

PAGE

Religion and Neurology
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
Introduction: the course is not anthropological, but deals with personal documents, 1. Questions of fact and questions of value, 4. In point of fact, the religious are often neurotic, 6. Criticism of medical materialism, which condemns religion on that account, 10. Theory that religion has a sexual origin refuted, 11. All states of mind are neurally conditioned, 14. Their significance must be tested not by their origin but by the value of their fruits, 15. Three criteria of value; origin useless as a criterion, 18. Advantages of the psychopathic temperament when a superior intellect goes with it, 22; especially for the religious life, 24.


LECTURE II

Circumscription of the Topic
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
Futility of simple definitions of religion, 26. No one specific 'religious sentiment,' 27. Institutional and personal religion, 28. We confine ourselves to the personal branch, 29. Definition of religion for the purpose of these lectures, 31. Meaning of the term 'divine,' 31. The divine is what prompts solemn reactions, 38. Impossible to make our definitions sharp, 39. We must study the more extreme cases, 40. Two ways of accepting the universe, 41. Religion is more enthusiastic than philosophy, 45. Its characteristic is enthusiasm in solemn emotion, 48. Its ability to overcome unhappiness, 50. Need of such a faculty from the biological point of view, 51.


LECTURE III

The Reality of the Unseen
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
53
Percepts versus abstract concepts, 53. Influence of the latter on belief, 54. Kant's theological Ideas, 55. We have a sense of reality other than that given by the special senses, 58. Examples of 'sense of presence,' 59. The feeling of unreality, 63. Sense

of a divine presence: examples, 65. Mystical experiences: examples, 69. Other cases of sense of God's presence, 70. Convincingness of unreasoned experience, 72. Inferiority of rationalism in establishing belief, 73. Either enthusiasm or solemnity may preponderate in the religious attitude of individuals, 75.


LECTURES IV AND V

The Religion of Healthy-mindedness
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
78
Happiness is man's chief concern, 78. 'Once-born' and 'twice-born' characters, 80. Walt Whitman, 84. Mixed nature of Greek feeling, 86. Systematic healthy-mindedness, 87. Its reasonableness, 88. Liberal Christianity shows it, 91. Optimism as encouraged by Popular Science, 92. The 'Mind-cure' movement, 94. Its creed, 97. Cases, 102. Its doctrine of evil, 106. Its analogy to Lutheran theology, 108. Salvation by relaxation, 109. Its methods: suggestion, 112; meditation, 115; 'recollection,' 116; verification, 118. Diversity of possible schemes of adaptation to the universe, 122. Appendix: Two mind-cure cases, 123.


LECTURES VI AND VII

The Sick Soul
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
127
Healthy-mindedness and repentance, 127. Essential pluralism of the healthy-minded philosophy, 131. Morbid-mindedness—its two degrees, 134. The pain-threshold varies in individuals, 135. Insecurity of natural goods, 136. Failure, or vain success of every life, 138. Pessimism of all pure naturalism, 140. Hopelessness of Greek and Roman view, 142. Pathological unhappiness, 144. 'Anhedonia,' 145. Querulous melancholy, 148. Vital zest is a pure gift, 150. Loss of it makes physical world look different, 151. Tolstoy, 152. Bunyan, 157. Alline, 159. Morbid fear, 160. Such cases need a supernatural religion for relief, 162. Antagonism of healthy-mindedness and morbidness, 163. The problem of evil cannot be escaped, 164.


LECTURE VIII

The Divided Self, and the Process of its Unification
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
166
Heterogeneous personality, 167. Character gradually attains unity, 170. Examples of divided self, 171. The unity attained need not be religious, 175. 'Counter conversion' cases, 177.

Other cases, 178. Gradual and sudden unification, 183. Tolstoy's recovery, 184. Bunyan's, 186.


LECTURE IX

Conversion
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
189
Case of Stephen Bradley, 189. The psychology of character-changes, 193. Emotional excitements make new centres of personal energy, 196. Schematic ways of representing this, 197. Starbuck likens conversion to normal moral ripening, 198. Leuba's ideas, 201. Seemingly unconvertible persons, 204. Two types of conversion, 205. Subconscious incubation of motives, 206. Self-surrender, 208. Its importance in religious history, 211. Cases, 212.


LECTURE X

Conversionconcluded
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
217
Cases of sudden conversion, 217. Is suddenness essential? 227. No, it depends on psychological idiosyncrasy, 230. Proved existence of transmarginal, or subliminal, consciousness, 233. 'Automatisms,' 234. Instantaneous conversions seem due to the possession of an active subconscious self by the subject, 236. The value of conversion depends not on the process, but on the fruits, 237. These are not superior in sudden conversion, 238. Professor Coe's views, 240. Sanctification as a result, 241. Our psychological account does not exclude direct presence of the Deity, 242. Sense of higher control, 243. Relations of the emotional 'faith-state' to intellectual beliefs, 246. Leuba quoted, 247. Characteristics of the faith-state: sense of truth; the world appears new, 248. Sensory and motor automatisms, 250. Permanency of conversions, 256.


LECTURES XI, XII, AND XIII

Saintliness
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
259
Sainte-Beuve on the State of Grace, 260. Types of character as due to the balance of impulses and inhibitions, 261. Sovereign excitements, 262. Irascibility, 264. Effects of higher excitement in general, 266. The saintly life is ruled by spiritual excitement, 267. This may annul sensual impulses permanently, 268. Probable subconscious influences involved, 270. Mechanical scheme for representing permanent alteration in character, 270. Characteristics of saintliness, 271. Sense of

reality of a higher power, 274. Peace of mind, charity, 278. Equanimity, fortitude, etc., 284. Connection of this with relaxation, 289. Purity of life, 290. Asceticism, 296. Obedience, 310. Poverty, 315. The sentiments of democracy and of humanity, 324. General effects of higher excitements, 325.


LECTURES XIV AND XV

The Value of Saintliness
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
326
It must be tested by the human value of its fruits, 327. The reality of the God must, however, also be judged, 328. 'Unfit' religions get eliminated by 'experience,' 331. Empiricism is not skepticism, 332. Individual and tribal religion, 334. Loneliness of religious originators, 335. Corruption follows success, 337. Extravagances, 339. Excessive devoutness, as fanaticism, 340; as theopathic absorption, 343. Excessive purity, 348. Excessive charity, 355. The perfect man is adapted only to the perfect environment, 356. Saints are leavens, 357. Excesses of asceticism, 360. Asceticism symbolically stands for the heroic life, 363. Militarism and voluntary poverty as possible equivalents, 365. Pros and cons of the saintly character, 369. Saints versus 'strong' men, 371. Their social function must be considered, 374. Abstractly the saint is the highest type, but in the present environment it may fail, so we make ourselves saints at our peril, 375. The question of theological truth, 377.


LECTURES XVI AND XVII

Mysticism
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
379
Mysticism defined, 379. Four marks of mystic states, 380. They form a distinct region of consciousness, 382. Examples of their lower grades, 382. Mysticism and alcohol. 386. 'The anaesthetic revelation,' 387. Religious mysticism, 393. Aspects of Nature, 394. Consciousness of God, 396. 'Cosmic consciousness,' 398. Yoga, 400. Buddhistic mysticism, 401. Sufism, 402. Christian mystics, 406. Their sense of revelation, 408. Tonic effects of mystic states, 414. They describe by negatives, 416. Sense of union with the Absolute, 419. Mysticism and music, 420. Three conclusions, 422. (1) Mystical states carry authority for him who has them, 423. (2) But for no one else, 424. (3) Nevertheless, they break down the exclusive authority of rationalistic states, 427. They strengthen monistic and optimistic hypotheses, 428.

LECTURE XVIII

Philosophy
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
430
Primacy of feeling in religion, philosophy being a secondary function, 430. Intellectualism professes to escape subjective standards in her theological constructions, 433. 'Dogmatic theology,' 436. Criticism of its account of God's attributes, 442. 'Pragmatism' as a test of the value of conceptions, 444. God's metaphysical attributes have no practical significance, 445. His moral attributes are proved by bad arguments; collapse of systematic theology, 448. Does transcendental idealism fare better? Its principles, 449. Quotations from John Caird, 450. They are good as restatements of religious experience, but uncoercive as reasoned proof, 453. What philosophy can do for religion by transforming herself into 'science of religions,' 455.


LECTURE XIX

Other Characteristics
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
458
Æsthetic elements in religion, 458. Contrast of Catholicism and Protestantism, 461. Sacrifice and Confession, 462. Prayer, 463. Religion holds that spiritual work is really effected in prayer, 465. Three degrees of opinion as to what is effected, 467. First degree, 468. Second degree, 472. Third degree, 474. Automatisms, their frequency among religious leaders, 478. Jewish cases, 479. Mohammed, 481. Joseph Smith, 482. Religion and the subconscious region in general, 483.


LECTURE XX

Conclusions
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
485
Summary of religious characteristics, 485. Men's religions need not be identical, 487. 'The science of religions' can only suggest, not proclaim, a religious creed, 489. Is religion a 'survival' of primitive thought? 490. Modern science rules out the concept of personality, 491. Anthropomorphism and belief in the personal characterized pre-scientific thought, 493. Personal forces are real, in spite of this, 498. Scientific objects are abstractions, only individualized experiences are concrete, 498. Religion holds by the concrete, 500. Primarily religion is a biological reaction, 504. Its simplest terms are an uneasiness and a deliverance; description of the deliverance, 508.

Question of the reality of the higher power, 510. The author's hypotheses: 1. The subconscious self as intermediating between nature and the higher region, 511; 2. The higher region, or 'God,' 515; 3. He produces real effects in nature, 518.


Postscript
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
520
Philosophic position of the present work defined as piecemeal supernaturalism, 520. Criticism of universalistic supernaturalism, 521. Different principles must occasion differences in fact, 522. What differences in fact can God's existence occasion? 523. The question of immortality, 524. Question of God's uniqueness and infinity: religious experience does not settle this question in the affirmative, 525. The pluralistic hypothesis is more conformed to common sense, 526.


Index
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
529