James

lished under the title, The Varieties of Religious
Experience (1902).

It had been James's original intention to di-
vide his attention equally between the psycho-
logical and the philosophical aspects of religion.
The author's liberal, varied human sympathies,
his sensitiveness to the nuances of the emotional
life, and that vividness of style and genius for
citation which he had already exhibited in the
Principles, resulted in a masterly exposition of
conversion, saintliness, and other states charac-
teristic of man's religious life. The book was
not only widely read but gave a great impetus
to further and more systematic research in the
psychology of religion. Its chief significance,
however, lay in those philosophical intimations
and prospects which, though they had been con-
fined to a small space, had by no means been
crowded out. An empiricist looks for knowledge
to experience, and there is an implication that
the "religious experience" will be the source to
which one should turn for religious knowledge.
The central religious experience is the mystical
state which claims to know God. James sup-
ported this claim by the hypothesis of a sub-
liminal self through which an individual may
become aware of a sphere of life and a sustaining
power beyond his normal consciousness. This
is the religious datum, the further interpretation
of which must be left to philosophy, guided by
the "pragmatic" principle. Religious beliefs
must be fruitful, and must be in agreement with
man's moral and esthetic demands. The reli-
gious hypothesis has, in other words, two types
of proof, the proof by immediate experience and
the proof by life. This distinction not only
reaches back to James's original coupling of
empiricism and voluntarism, but affords the best
clue to his philosophical development after 1902.
Seeking a final metaphysics, and hoping to write
it down in a definitive and systematic form, he
oscillated between these two methods: a deep-
ening and broadening of the notion of experi-
ence so as to provide an immediate apprehension
of reality, and an elaboration of the practical and
emotional demands which a true conception of
reality must satisfy.

The Varieties was one of the most widely pop-
ular of James's works, and despite the fact that
its primary intent'was scientific rather than de-
votional it brought to many readers a confirma-
tion or new assurance of religious faith. In the
correspondence with friends, new and old, which
followed the publication of the book, James's
spoke candidly of the grounds and content of
his own personal faith. God to him was a "pow-
erful ally" of his ideals, and religion a belief

James

by which his "causes" received corroboration.
As to the mystical experience, he was disposed
to accept it not because of any such experience
of his own, but rather because he felt "normal"
or "sane" consciousness "to be so small a part
of actual experience," and because he felt the
cumulative force of the religious history of man-
kind. On the whole the most important effect
of the publication of the Varieties was to shift
the emphasis in this field of study from the dog-
mas and external forms of religion to the unique
mental states associated with it; and to strength-
en the opinion that there is a religious experi-
ence sui generis, whose noetic claims deserve a
respectful and sympathetic consideration.

James's interest in abnormal experiences
found expression not only in his study of reli-
gion, but in two celebrated essays which ap-
peared later. One of these on "The Energies
of Men" (Philosophical Review, Jan. 1907)
dealt with the unexpected reserves which human
nature brings into play in emergencies; the
other, entitled "The Moral Equivalent of War"
(International Concilium, No. 27, Feb. 1910),
discussed the possibility of devising some social
measure, such as a universal conscription of
youth for useful labor involving physical toil
and hardship, by which the martial virtues and
satisfactions could be secured without destruc-
tion and without cruelty. In connection with
these essays James collected a considerable
amount of material which was apparently de-
signed for a work on "the varieties of military
experience."

Between 1902 and 1907 James's health was
so far restored as to permit of a great multipli-
cation of his activities. His Harvard teaching
was now limited to a single course but the time
and strength which were saved were freely ex-
pended upon incessant reading, lecturing, and
writing, together with a voluminous correspond-
ence. The honorary degree of LL.D. was be-
stowed upon him by his own university in 1903,
and he took this occasion to give memorable ex-
pression to his idealization of Harvard ("The
True Harvard," reprinted in Memories and
Studies, 1911). In 1905 he attended the philo-
sophical congress in Rome, and was made hap-
pily aware of his growing fame. In January
1906 he made his second trip to California and
became visiting professor for the second half of
the academic year at Stanford University, where
he gave the introductory lectures which he later
revised and amplified, and which were published
after his death, under the title of Some Problems
of Philosophy. His enthusiasm for the young
civilization of the Pacific coast was character-

597