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[Varieties] syllabus
by Jesse Raber 16 Dec '13

16 Dec '13

For those who just joined, here's our "syllabus": Week I - *Varieties *Lecture I, "Religion and Neurology" -- "The Present Dilemma in Philosophy" -- "What Pragmatism Means" Week II - *Varieties *Lecure II, "Circumscription of the Topic" -- "The One and the Many" -- "What Makes a Life Significant" Week III - *Varieties *Lecture III, "The Reality of the Unseen" -- "Pragmatism's Conception of Truth" -- "The Will to Believe" Week IV - *Varieties *Lectures IV and V, "The Religion of Healthy Mindedness" -- "The Gospel of Relaxation" Week V - *Varieties *Lectures VI and VII, "The Sick Soul" -- "Pragmatism and Religion" -- "The Absolute and the Strenuous Life" Week VI - *Varieties *Lecture VIII, "The Divided Self, and the Process of Its Unification" -- "The Importance of Individuals" Week VII - *Varieties *Lectures IX and X, "Conversion" Week VIII - *Varieties *Lectures XI, XII, and XIII, "Saintliness" Week IX - *Varieties *Lectures XIV and XV, "The Value of Saintliness" -- "The Moral Equivalent of War" -- "Great Men and Their Environment" Week X - *Varieties *Lectures XVI and XVII, "Mysticism" -- "The Sentiment of Rationality" Week XI - *Varieties *Lecture XVIII, "Philosophy" -- "On a Certain Blindness" Week XII - *Varieties *Lecture XIX, "Other Characteristics" Week XIII - *Varieties *Lecture XX, "Conclusions," plus postscripts

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question on Pierce
by Ruth Raubertas 15 Dec '13

15 Dec '13

Can you explain/expound on this quote from Pierce: "...consider what effects, that might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object." ...from "How to Make Our Ideas Clear" ......... : )

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Introduction
by Mary Haake 14 Dec '13

14 Dec '13

I'm a clinical psychologist, an atheistic Christian, and the girlfriend of Andrew Cone's father. I read Varieties of Religious Experience a few years ago, cold, with no background and got a few interesting ideas but welcome a chance to learn more about what James was trying to do. If I gain some insight into why I find it meaningful to read the Bible, that would be great. Best, Mary Mary Haake, Ph.D. 17 Glen Eden Avenue, #7 Oakland, CA 94611 Phone: 510-528-9543 email: maryhaakephd(a)gmail.com website: maryhaakephd.com Notice of Confidentiality: This email, and any attachments, is intended only for use by the addressee(s) and may contain privileged, private or confidential information. Any distribution, reading, copying or use of this communication and any attachments by anyone other than the addressee(s), is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error, please immediately notify me by email (by replying to this message) or telephone, and permanently destroy or delete the original and any copies or printouts of this email and any attachments. It is important that the addressee(s) be aware that email communication can be relatively easily accessed by unauthorized people and hence can compromise the privacy and confidentiality of such communication. Emails, in particular, are vulnerable to such unauthorized access due to the fact that servers have unlimited and direct access to all emails that go through them. A non-encrypted email, such as this, is even more vulnerable to unauthorized access. Please notify me if you decide to avoid or limit, in any way, the use of email. Unless I hear from you otherwise, I will continue to communicate with you via email when necessary or appropriate.

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participation
by Jesse Raber 14 Dec '13

14 Dec '13

Hi all, Tomorrow marks the end of our first week. My plan was to look over everyone's comments tomorrow afternoon and write another little essay trying to speak to them. It's a lot easier for me to respond to questions than to cook something up from scratch. But so far we only have one comment! That's not really enough to go on. I know that some people are not reading along yet and are planning to catch up later, and of course that's fine. But for those of you who are keeping up with the reading, I'd really appreciate it if you could offer at least one short comment or question each week -- even if it's only a single sentence. And please don't worry that you're too ignorant to comment -- you aren't! In fact, people who aren't already immersed in philosophy often have the most interesting and vital questions. Naggingly yours, Jesse

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religion and neurology
by Eric Purdy 11 Dec '13

11 Dec '13

I found it interesting that James basically admits that when considering the work of religious innovators (religious geniuses? what's the right term?), we are dealing with people that we would ordinarily write off as unmedicated schizophrenics. That seems like a hard thing for us to accept, maybe even more so today than then. "Let us play fair in this whole matter, and be quite candid with ourselves and with the facts. When we think certain states of mind superior to others, is it ever because of what we know concerning their organic antecedents? No! it is always for two entirely different reasons. It is either because we take an immediate delight in them; or else it is because we believe them to bring us good consequential fruits for life. When we speak disparagingly of 'feverish fancies,' surely the fever-process as such is not the ground of our disesteem *for aught we know to the contrary, 103° or 104° Fahrenheit might be a much more favorable temperature for truths to germinate and sprout in, than the more ordinary blood-heat of 97 or 98 degrees*. It is either the disagreeableness itself of the fancies, or their inability to bear the criticisms of the convalescent hour. When we praise the thoughts which health brings, health's peculiar chemical metabolisms have nothing to do with determining our judgment. We know in fact almost nothing about these metabolisms. It is the character of inner happiness in the thoughts which stamps them as good, or else their consistency with our other opinions and their serviceability for our needs, which make them pass for true in our esteem." -- -Eric

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introduction
by Michael Raubertas 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

Hi, I'm Mike Raubertas. My connection to the group is that I'm Clara's dad. My academic background is in the humanities, but without any formal study of philosophy. I have a BA in History from Penn State and a J.D. from Penn. Originally from the Philly area, I've live in or near the small town of Shepherdstown, WV for 22 yrs. where we own a bookstore. My current obsession is our country property and growing most of our food. I was raised a Catholic, but have been a Quaker since my 20's. I've felt for some time now that I should read James's Varieties of Religious Experience so here's the nudge that I needed.

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[Varieties] Welcome and Introductions
by Andrew Cone 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

Hi everyone! Welcome to the William James discussion list. Let's each introduce ourselves over email. It's sounds a bit put on, I know, but if we don't do it, we'll each eventually wonder "Who is that person anyway? Should I know them? Am I unpopular? I wish I were popular." And you can be! Just send out an email saying who you are, which city you live in, anything you'd like to say about your interest in James, and any academic background or life experience that may be relevant*.* I'll start. I live in Oakland, CA, and I have no training in philosophy or psychology. Most of my knowledge of James comes from chats and emails with Jesse, and occasional wikipedia reading. I got the idea to start this list when I was listening to NPR last week, and some neuroscientist was saying how things William James wrote are relevant to the modern understanding of the brain. I thought to myself, "I should really read William James. I know a bunch of people who might want the same. And Jesse knows as much about James as I know about stealing rides on freight trains. Let's make a reading group." --AC

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Introduction
by Ruth Raubertas 10 Dec '13

10 Dec '13

*Hi, I’m Ruth, Clara’s mom...she’s my only connection to the U. of C. I was raised in an academic/agnostic home near Philadelphia and attended Indiana University for music ed. in the 70s...meaning not a strong literary background, the focus was on music courses. I have taught varieties of music and also helped Clara’s dad Mike start a bookstore and a mini-farm in our small college town of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. In regard to spiritual interests/experiences, I have moved through agnosticism, 70s hedonism, eastern philosophies, Quakerism (the non-Christian variety), Quakerism (the Christian variety), until experiencing a spiritual calling to Christianity (upon meeting a Chinese viola player on a train) in 1981. From thence to the Mennonite (Anabaptist) Church, back to the Quakers, and have also attended Brethren, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Baptist, Lutheran again, Mennonite again, and am now attending a vibrant, mostly African American Methodist church in our town. Along the way there have been opportunities to read lots of books and parse out differing theologies and philosophies, and though Christianity is not primarily an intellectual exercise, my brain is such that I am always excited at the prospect of an intellectual challenge in the contemplation of God, my favorite subject. Thank you for inviting me!!*

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Welcome and introductions
by Andrew Kyser 09 Dec '13

09 Dec '13

Hi all, My name is Andrew, I've just moved to Denver after a short stint in St. Louis and 10 years in Chicago. I think I may be the only person here to have never been a student at the U of C, but I've done 7 ScavHunts now and been to a few parties at Moomers, so that's roughly the equivalent, I feel. In that regards, some of you may know me or know of me as Looptopia Man. My last job was as an archaeologist and I'm planning on a future career in mapping. I've was raised agnostic and am now atheist, but have gone to Catholic school from 7th grade through college at Loyola. Some of my best friends are extraordinarily devout, and I sometimes have a hard time understanding that, so I'm hoping this will help. I'm also planning on reading Alain de Botton's Religion for Atheists pretty soon, and hope that James and de Botton will pair well together. And like Steven said, my academic reading has sharply fallen off after graduation, and I'd like to change that.

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[Varieties] Text edition
by Andrew Cone 09 Dec '13

09 Dec '13

I've been reading the *Varieties* here<http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/621/pg621.html>, but I want to get a paper copy. Jesse: can you recommend an edition, with a corresponding link to Amazon? --AC

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