Essays in Religion and Morality

by William James, John J. McDermott

Overview

Essays in Religion and Morality brings together a dozen papers of varying length to these two themes so crucial to the life and thought of William James. Reflections on the two subjects permeate, first, James's presentation of his father's Literary Remains; second, his writings on human immortality and the relation between reason and faith; third, his two memorial pieces, one on Robert Gould Shaw and the other on Emerson; fourth, his consideration of the energies and powers of human life; and last, his writings on the possibilities of peace, especially as found in his famous essay "The Moral Equivalent of War."

These speeches and essays were written over a period of twenty-four years. The fact that James did not collect and publish them himself in a single volume does not reflect on their intrinsic worth or on their importance in James's philosophical work, since they include some of the best known and most influential of his writings. All the essays, throughout their varied subject matter, are consistently and characteristically Jamesian in the freshness of their attack on the problems and failings of humankind and in their steady faith in human powers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674267350
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	04/26/1982
Series:	The Works of William James , #6
Pages:	380
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction by John J. McDermott

Essays in Religion and Morality

Introduction to The Literary Remains of the Late Henry James

Robert Gould Shaw: Oration by Professor William James

Human Immortality: Two Supposed Objections to the Doctrine

Preface to Starbuck's Psychology of Religion

Preface to Lutoslawski's World of Souls

Emerson

Introduction to Fechner's Life After Death

Remarks at the Peace Banquet

Reason and Faith

The Energies of Men

The Powers of Men

The Moral Equivalent of War

Notes

Appendixes

1. Notes for "The Energies of Men'

2. Notes for an Unidentified Lecture

A Note on the Editorial Method

The Text of Essays in Religion and Morality

Apparatus

Emendations

Textual Notes

Historical Collation

Alterations in the Manuscripts

Word-Division

General Index