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savaging's review against another edition
4.0
Extraordinary book. Recommended for the religious and a-religious alike.
"when a religion has become an orthodoxy, its day of inwardness is over: the spring is dry; the faithful live at second hand exclusively and stone the prophets in their turn. The new church, in spite of whatever human goodness it may foster, can be henceforth counted on as a staunch ally in every attempt to stifle the spontaneous religious spirit, and to stop all later bubblings of the fountain from which in purer days it drew its own supply of inspiration. Unless, indeed, by adopting new movements of the spirit it can make capital out of them and use them for its selfish corporate designs!"
"when a religion has become an orthodoxy, its day of inwardness is over: the spring is dry; the faithful live at second hand exclusively and stone the prophets in their turn. The new church, in spite of whatever human goodness it may foster, can be henceforth counted on as a staunch ally in every attempt to stifle the spontaneous religious spirit, and to stop all later bubblings of the fountain from which in purer days it drew its own supply of inspiration. Unless, indeed, by adopting new movements of the spirit it can make capital out of them and use them for its selfish corporate designs!"
samue_l's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
So I'd definitely recommend William James to anyone wary of philosophy. He's very accessible through warm, clear, inviting prose, free of the elitism you often find in these types. I can't really find anything off-putting to say about the guy.
If you're interested in the topics in the book, go ahead and see if you want to read the whole thing. But really, you can get a valuable experience out of reading only a handful of the lectures. (If you go this route, definitely read the one on 'the sick soul' and the one on mysticism). One thing to consider is that James and a guy named Pierce founded a school of philosophy called pragmatism, and pragmatism underscores pretty much every substantial conclusion he draws in these lectures. But, being James, he is extremely careful to draw conclusions at all.
All in all, this had been on my list for a while so I'm glad I read it. It was kind of hard, but not nearly as dry as you'd imagine. William James is the man.
If you're interested in the topics in the book, go ahead and see if you want to read the whole thing. But really, you can get a valuable experience out of reading only a handful of the lectures. (If you go this route, definitely read the one on 'the sick soul' and the one on mysticism). One thing to consider is that James and a guy named Pierce founded a school of philosophy called pragmatism, and pragmatism underscores pretty much every substantial conclusion he draws in these lectures. But, being James, he is extremely careful to draw conclusions at all.
All in all, this had been on my list for a while so I'm glad I read it. It was kind of hard, but not nearly as dry as you'd imagine. William James is the man.
jgilge's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good read. A bit long, a bit wordy, and full of tangents, but overall I enjoyed getting new perspectives and expanding my horizons.
every_atom_belonging's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
marydaleo's review against another edition
5.0
William James essentially walks around Ireland asking people about their various religious experiences, and what emerges is a series of fascinating first-hand accounts of angels, demons, atheism, voices, and more. One of my favorite reads of all time.
shaunireads1's review against another edition
5.0
I was expecting this series of lectures to be more scientific, because of William James' background in psychology, but the title should have been more of a clue to me that he focused much more on anecdotal experiences. He was not talking about religion in a broad sense here, but rather spiritual experiences on a personal level. Each of the twenty lectures tackled a different theme--conversion, mysticism, prayer, etc. and provided anecdotes from the writings of people who have actually experienced each type of religious experience. Where I was expecting him to approach, for example, prayer from a psychological standpoint, instead he provided anecdotes from people who had transcendental experiences while praying. His examples were usually the on the extreme end, but he tried to show how in moderation, each type of religious experience held pragmatic value. He placed quite a bit of emphasis on prayer, and suggested that prayer was the ultimate, most meaningful religious experience. In the end, it wasn't what I expected, but I still would highly these lectures to anyone interested in understanding religion (particularly Christianity) on a personal level.