_The Varieties of Religious Experience_ builds to the climax of James explaining his philosophy of Pragmatism. What I think is important here to the religion vs. rationalism debate is that James has no time for established religion, dogma, or theology. Rather, he focuses on the mystical, individual life-changing experiences people have in sensing the presence of a higher power. These experiences are as real as falling in love - they are a psychological phenomenon that, according to James, bubble up from the subconscious and have direct, pragmatic, positive effects on a person's life. What is missing here is a discussion of cultural influence on these experiences - why do people in Christian culture only frame these experiences in terms of Christianity? Do people lack a language outside of their culture to describe these mystical experiences?

Great! But I've attended this lecture a dozen times since attending and working at a theological grad school. This is like watching a hundred movies inspired by Star Wars and then finally watching Star Wars. The movie is still great, but the impact is lessened by familiarity.

Very challenging for me. The worst part was any time I would consider giving up, he'd say something so profound I'd have to keep reading!! Glad I read it, NO desire to ever read again

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3869469-easter-in-ordinary

Publicado em 1902 este livro é um clássico que interseta Religião, Filosofia da Religião e Psicologia. Resulta da compilação de 20 palestras do autor sobre o tema.

Assumindo a sua falta de experiência pessoal na matéria, Williams James procura, através dos relatos de várias figuras religiosas de renome, fazer sentido deste impulso da natureza humana para a prática da religião.

James não procura apelar à prática desta ou daquela religião ou testar a sua veracidade, mas sim descrever a prática religiosa como ela ocorre numa perspetiva individual e subjetiva; não institucional.
Ao longo de toda a obra o autor vai valorizando a importância da visão e sensação individual sobre a realidade, que coexista com a “intelectualização” e o processo científico, na sua natureza mais abstrata e generalizadora.

Após cerca de 20 horas de leitura sobre a experiência religiosa, uma constatação algo caricata. Sinto que sei mais sobre o autor do que acerca do objeto do seu estudo. Mas não num mau sentido dada a natureza do tema em questão.

O aspeto mais negativo da obra será o da excessiva quantidade de relatos, alguns deles absurdos, que vão sendo citados.
A escolha de “casos extremos” para generalizar a experiência religiosa também é debatível, embora se possa considerar que esta escolha é justificada pelo autor.

No final de contas, sobre a experiência religiosa talvez não fiquemos a saber muito mais do que quando iniciamos a leitura desta obra. De William James é, no mínimo, possível ficar a conhecer a sua mente aberta, tolerante, sofisticada, (auto)conhecedora, paciente e esperançosa.

Numa pequena nota mais sociológica ou histórica, esta era uma época em que os EUA não tinham ainda o domínio científico face à Europa que hoje se verifica. William James escolhe estas palavras para iniciar a sua série de palestras:

“It seems the natural thing for us to listen whilst the Europeans talk. The contrary habit, of talking whilst the Europeans listen, we have not yet acquired”

Estava mais que certo na esperança aí demonstrada e talvez até ficasse surpreendido com o cenário atual!

Numa nota final e mais virada para o período atual, um desejo da autor:
Apesar da crítica feroz a variados aspetos do asceticismo que muitos praticam, William James faz um apelo à elevação do desejo à pobreza, com frases que encaixam que nem uma luva na atualidade:


“When we of so-called better classes are scared as men were never scared in history at material ugliness and hardship; when we put off marriage until our house can be artistic, and quake at the thought of having a child without a bank-account and doomed to manual labour, it is time for thinking men to protest against so unmanly and irreligious a state of opinion.”

“I recommend this matter to your serious pondering, for it is certain that the prevalent fear of poverty among the educated classes is the worst moral disease from which our civilization suffers.”

Os mais corajosos que se aventurem

A must-read if you're at all interested in a more empirical analysis of the religious experience. Although William James makes it clear that he is first and foremost a scientist, his study is ripe with a keen understanding of the pragmatic elements of religion. This lecture series is not about the existence of a god, but examines the phenomenon of the belief in an Other that is beyond this earthly realm.

As I have mentioned before, James can be a bit garrulous, but if the reader has patience and a genuine interest in subject, there are many solid nuggets of text to discover.

I will have to read this again in its entirety, but this truly was a fascinating examination of religious experience.

A landmark book in phenomenology, James focused on how people experience the numinous. Definitely not theological, he approaches religion from the discipline of psychology. Don't lose the significance of the subtitle--James believes that it is a part of human nature to seek meaning in the face of mystery--which he believes is a basic religious--today we might say "spiritual"--exercise.