按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！
The Varieties of Religious Experience
by William James
A Study in Human Nature
To
E。P。G。
IN FILIAL GRATITUDE AND LOVE
THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE
Lecture I
RELIGION AND NEUROLOGY
It is with no small amount of trepidation that I take my place
behind this desk； and face this learned audience。 To us
Americans； the experience of receiving instruction from the
living voice； as well as from the books； of European scholars； is
very familiar。 At my own University of Harvard； not a winter
passes without its harvest； large or small； of lectures from
Scottish； English； French； or German representatives of the
science or literature of their respective countries whom we have
either induced to cross the ocean to address us； or captured on
the wing as they were visiting our land。 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； and in him who first makes the adventure it begets a
certain sense of apology being due for so presumptuous an act。
Particularly must this be the case on a soil as sacred to the
American imagination as that of Edinburgh。 The glories of the
philosophic chair of this university were deeply impressed on my
imagination in boyhood。 Professor Fraser's Essays in Philosophy；
then just published； was the first philosophic book I ever looked
into； and I well remember the awestruck feeling I received from
the account of Sir William Hamilton's classroom therein
contained。 Hamilton's own lectures were the first philosophic
writings I ever forced myself to study； and after that I was
immersed in Dugald Stewart and Thomas Brown。 Such juvenile
emotions of reverence never get outgrown； and I confess that to
find my humble self promoted from my native wilderness to be
actually for the time an official here； and transmuted into a
colleague of these illustrious names； carries with it a sense of
dreamland quite as much as of reality。
But since I have received the honor of this appointment I have
felt that it would never do to decline。 The academic career also
has its heroic obligations； so I stand here without further
deprecatory words。 Let me say only this； that now that the
current； here and at Aberdeen； has begun to run from west to
east； I hope it may continue to do so。 As the years go by； I
hope that many of my countrymen may be asked to lecture in the
Scottish universities； changing places with Scotsmen lecturing in
the United States； I hope that our people may become in all these
higher matters even as one people； and that the peculiar
philosophic temperament； as well as the peculiar political
temperament； that goes with our English speech may more and more
pervade and influence the world。
As regards the manner in which I shall have to administer this
lectureship； I am neither a theologian； nor a scholar learned in
the history of religions； nor an anthropologist。 Psychology is
the only branch of learning in which I am particularly versed。
To the psychologist the religious propensities of man must be at
least as interesting as any other of the facts pertaining to his
mental constitution。 It would seem； therefore； that； as a
psychologist； the natural thing for me would be to invite you to
a descriptive survey of those religious propensities。
If the inquiry be psychological； not religious institutions； but
rather religious feelings and religious impulses must be its
subject； and I must confine myself to those more developed
subjective phenomena recorded in literature produced by
articulate and fully self…conscious men； in works of piety and
autobiography。 Interesting as the origins and early stages of a
subject always are； yet when one seeks earnestly for its full
significance； one must always look to its more completely evolved
and perfect forms。 It follows from this that the documents that
will most concern us will be those of the men who were most
accomplished in the religious life and best able to give an
intelligible account of their ideas and motives。 These men； of
course； are either comparatively modern writers； or else such
earlier ones as have become religious classics。 The documents
humains which we shall find most instructive need not then be
sought for in the haunts of special eruditionthey lie along the
beaten highway； and this circumstance； which flows so naturally
from the character of our problem； suits admirably also your
lecturer's lack of special theological learning。 I may take
my citations； my sentences and paragraphs of personal confession；
from books that most of you at some time will have had already in
your hands； and yet this will be no detriment to the value of my
conclusions。 It is true that some more adventurous reader and
investigator； lecturing here in future； may unearth from the
shelves of libraries documents that will make a more delectable
and curious entertainment to listen to than mine。 Yet I doubt
whether he will necessarily； by his control of so much more
out…of…the…way material； get much closer to the essence of the
matter in hand。
The question； What are the religious propensities？ and the
question； What is their philosophic significance？ are two
entirely different orders of question from the logical point of
view； and； as a failure to recognize this fact distinctly may
breed confusion； I wish to insist upon the point a little before
we enter into the documents and materials to which I have
referred。
In recent books on logic； distinction is made between two orders
of inquiry concerning anything。 First； what is the nature of it？
how did it come about？ what is its constitution； origin； and
history？ And second； What is its importance； meaning； or
significance； now that it is once here？ The answer to the one
question is given in an existential judgment or proposition。 The
answer to the other is a proposition of value； what the Germans
call a Werthurtheil； or what we may； if we like； denominate a
spiritual judgment。 Neither judgment can be deduced immediately
from the other。 They proceed from diverse intellectual
preoccupations； and the mind combines them only by making them
first separately； and then adding them together。
In the matter of religions it is particularly easy to distinguish
the two orders of question。 Every religious pheno