William James and the Metaphysics of Experience

by David C. Lamberth

Overview

This book offers a new perspective on the philosopher, psychologist, and religious thinker William James. Using biographical materials, manuscripts, and analysis, the author develops the first systematic reading of James' world-view of radical empiricism, which sought to take concrete, immediate experience as the basis for understanding the world. The book offers close readings of key works by James. Lamberth argues that religion and philosophy themselves are intimately related conceptually for James; and concludes by relating James' conceptions to present debates concerning truth, religious experience, and theological understandings of the divine.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521581639
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/20/1999
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Religion and Critical Thought , #5
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.75(d)
Lexile:	1750L (what's this?)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments; Note on the text; Introduction; 1. James's radically empiricist Weltanschauung; 2. From psychology to religion: pure experience and radical empiricism in the 1890s; 3. The Varieties of Religious Experience: Indications of a philosophy adapted to normal religious needs; 4. Squaring logic and life: making philosophy intimate in A Pluralistic Universe; 5. Estimations and anticipations; Select bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Lamberth's book is an extraordinarily precise analysis of James's transition from an empirical psychologist to a metaphysician, and he offers detailed interpretations of James's religious views within the context of James's attempt to overcome the perennial bugbear of philosophy: mind-body dualism." Neal Leavitt, The Boston Book Review

"This volume is a welcome addition to the body of Jamesian scholarship. In this clearly written, well-researched, and convincing book, Lamberth has unveiled a philosopher worthy of careful attention." Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society

"This study is beautifully Jamesian in character." Review of Metaphysics

"...Lamberth's interpretation of "pure experience" sharpens the sense of James's defense of religion...It is an excellent path through James's later thought." The Boston Book Review

"This is a very bold and exciting book..." Philosophy and Phenomenological

From the Publisher