Kindle Price: $5.99

Save $1.00 (14%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Follow the author

William James
+ Follow
More books from this author
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

The Varieties of Religious Experience Kindle Edition

by William James (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 297 ratings
See all formats and editions
Harvard philosopher William James’s compiled lectures on religion, considered to be among the most brilliant studies of mankind’s relation to the divine

William James’s Varieties of Religious Experience brings together twenty lectures on the nature of religion, delivered at the University of Edinburgh between 1901 and 1902. Renowned at the time for their practical and even-handed approach to the human experience of religion, the lectures form a sympathetic and analytical portrait not of the church, but of the personalized experiences of religious life. James examines the words of writers and philosophers from Immanuel Kant to Plato to Ralph Waldo Emerson to Marcus Aurelius in his investigations of faith, the soul, and systems of belief. Praised by philosopher Charles Pierce for its “penetration into the hearts of people” and by the New York Times for its ability to stir the sympathies of readers, The Varieties of Religious Experience is a lucid and thought-provoking examination of man’s encounters with God.
 
This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Read more Read less
Previous page
  1. Print length
    290 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Philosophical Library/Open Road
  5. Publication date
    February 24, 2015
  6. File size
    1719 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00TEPP9IK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Philosophical Library/Open Road (February 24, 2015)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 24, 2015
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1719 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 290 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 297 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
William James

William James

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
297 global ratings
Recommend different edition
3 Stars
Recommend different edition
The printing in this edition in infuriating. As you can see in the photo, there is no center column. It is printed on letter-sized paper and the entire page is taken up with printing, leaving no margin. This edition will tax your eyes and weary your mind. I recommend the book, but not the cheap edition offered here.
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Ty Johnston
5.0 out of 5 stars Scientifically minded looking at religion
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2024
Verified Purchase
As can be expected from a book more than a century old, this one can seem quite dated, still there is much to learn here. For the most part the author of this collection of lectures looks at religion from a personal point of view, not socially or politically. The author's various description of religion are quite strong, in my opinion, though he is a little lacking when he comes to summing up his own take on things in the final couple of lectures.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Read
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book has popped up on my radar many times over the years. For whatever reason, I've put off reading it until recently. I purchased this edition from CrossReach Publications. While I'd agree with some other reviewers that the formatting is a bit odd, I actually appreciate the dimensions of the book more than I would had it been printed with more pages, less columns, and a smaller footprint.

The book itself is really impressive. Anyone interested in Religion, American Philosophy, or the richness of individual human experience should do themselves a favor and check it out.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Jmfugett
5.0 out of 5 stars William James was always interesting and depression
Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2019
Verified Purchase
if you have haven't read James, it is worth your time and effort. This might not be the best book to start with from this great thinker, but it is an interesting take on spirituality and how to understand its origins and purpose.

Seeing as James wrote more than 100 years ago there are many things we know now that he did not then. In his time, neuroscience was in its infancy many decades away from the sophisticated development of fMRI scanners. His attempt to understand why humans would have a sense of spirituality leaves open the possibility of some legitimate spiritual force that affects some of us but not all. Modern methods are revealing the evolutionary underpinnings of the need for spirituality which leads to James ultimate conclusion seeming quaint the late 2010's.

But, understanding the history of human thinking on psychology, or any field for that matter, is imperative if one wishes to claim an understanding of a topic.
11 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Dave Terpstra
3.0 out of 5 stars Recommend different edition
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
The printing in this edition in infuriating. As you can see in the photo, there is no center column. It is printed on letter-sized paper and the entire page is taken up with printing, leaving no margin. This edition will tax your eyes and weary your mind. I recommend the book, but not the cheap edition offered here.
Customer image
Dave Terpstra
3.0 out of 5 stars Recommend different edition
Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2021
The printing in this edition in infuriating. As you can see in the photo, there is no center column. It is printed on letter-sized paper and the entire page is taken up with printing, leaving no margin. This edition will tax your eyes and weary your mind. I recommend the book, but not the cheap edition offered here.
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
5 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Uncle Al
4.0 out of 5 stars Erudite hogswill
Reviewed in the United States on February 1, 2023
Verified Purchase
Rather than take dangerous and illegal drugs to confront sociopolitical war on empirical reality, dip into this outhouse basement savvy sewage and watch Satan pull his thumb out.
3 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
jacob herr
5.0 out of 5 stars Religion in the acutely sense
Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2020
Verified Purchase
This is quite an extraordinary read. The mere fact that these are the transcripts of various lectures just shows there once was a time where one idea could be detailed to an extent so great, that it made the subject even more great. James does that here. This collection is not about religion in the traditional western sense, but the phenomenological one, where how the order of things seems to be the chips falling into place of felt experience. The components of this work are so unbelievably detailed, challenging, and emotional, just as religion in the acutest and primordial sense was and should always be. Excellent printing as well!
4 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Elizabeth Rice-Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars One of my most fAVE writers and books, ever.
Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2023
Verified Purchase
Marvelous perspective - across decades, cultures, circumstances, and stages of life!
Helpful
 Report
gigolin
1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible format
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2024
Verified Purchase
This is a magazine sized reprint with multiple pages per page and tiny tiny print. Terrible format.
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

sasha koegler
4.0 out of 5 stars No Page Numbers.
Reviewed in Canada on December 26, 2021
Verified Purchase
Excellent book, but sloppy formatting and NO PAGE NUMBERS. I bought it for a course and when it came time to write my paper, I had to go get a different copy so I could actually cite the book. Don't waste your money if you need to be able to cite this text.
Report
Susie
5.0 out of 5 stars Book was lost somewhere along the line.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2018
Verified Purchase
Didn't,receive this book but was reimbursed by the seller who was very helpful and fair.
Report
Carmilla
4.0 out of 5 stars It is accessible to the layperson and easy to dip in an out of
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 1, 2018
Verified Purchase
A 500+ page discursive and descriptive text that introduces a manifold of ideas about religious states and how they affect the individuals experiencing them. James neither discounts nor wholly accepts these experiences as objective truths, but posits that they are of value as subjective truths. He presents them as areas for further contemplation as we consider the wide and various nature of human consciousness and experience.

At times repetitive, and rarely compelling it remains an interesting read. It is accessible to the layperson and easy to dip in an out of.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Quieteye
1.0 out of 5 stars Unreadable due to layout and font size.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2024
Verified Purchase
This is the second book I have now received which has been printed by Amazon (..not made clear in the description). The font size and lack of margins together with the page split in half, so two columns of text, has made this book extremely uninviting to read. This an important and illuminating text which deserves much better treatment. I would certainly encourage prospective purchaser to source another edition of this work.
Amazon, you know what you are doing; be clear about this product in your description.
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report