William James and the Metaphysics of Experience (Cambridge Studies in Religion and Critical Thought, Series Number 5)

Preliminaries; Contents; Note on the text; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter 1: James's radically empiricist Weltanschauung; Chapter 2: From psychology to religion: pure experience and radical empiricism in the 1890s; Chapter 3: The Varieties of Religious Experience: indications of a philosophy adapted to normal religious needs; Chapter 4: Squaring logic and life: making philosophy intimate in A Pluralistic Universe; Chapter 5: Estimations and anticipations; Select Bibliography; Index.;William James is frequently considered one of America's most important philosophers, as well as a foundational thinker for the study of religion. In this new interpretation David Lamberth argues that James's major contribution was to develop a systematic metaphysics of experience integrally related to his pluralistic and social religious ideas. William James is often considered one of America's most original philosophical minds, while also a foundational thinker for the study of religion. Despite this reputation, he is rarely considered a serious philosopher or religious thinker by contemporary standards. In this new interpretation David Lamberth argues that James's major contribution was to develop a metaphysics of experience integrally related to his pluralistic and social religious ideas. Lamberth systematically interprets James's radically empiricist world-view and argues for an early dating (1895) for his development of this metaphysics. He offers a radically empiricist reading of Varieties of Religious Experience and a close analysis of A Pluralistic Universe. Concluding, he connects James's ideas about experience, pluralism, and truth to current debates in philosophy, philosophy of religion, and theology, suggesting James's functional, experiential metaphysics as a conceptual aid in bridging the social and interpretive with the immediate and concrete, avoiding radical relativism and naive realism. William James is frequently considered one of America's most important philosophers, as well as a foundational thinker for the study of religion. Despite his reputation as the founder of pragmatism, he is rarely considered a serious philosopher or religious thinker. In this new interpretation David Lamberth argues that James's major contribution was to develop a systematic metaphysics of experience integrally related to his developing pluralistic and social religious ideas. Lamberth systematically interprets James's radically empiricist world-view and argues for an early dating (1895) for his commitment to the metaphysics of radical empiricism. He offers a close reading of Varieties of Religious Experience; and concludes by connecting James's ideas about experience, pluralism and truth to current debates in philosophy, the philosophy of religion, and theology, suggesting James's functional, experiential metaphysics as a conceptual aid in bridging the social and interpretive with the immediate and concrete while avoiding naive realism. 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.