William James on How to Study Experience: Integrating Phenomenology of Religion and Radical Empiricism

William James stands at the nexus of two intellectual traditions important to religious studies: phenomenology of religion and radical empiricism. Focusing on James’s work, I identify three essential points of contact between radical empiricism and phenomenology of religion: epoché, the affective ch...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Method & theory in the study of religion
Main Author: Blum, Jason N. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2015
In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 27, Issue: 4/5, Pages: 423-446
Further subjects:B William James phenomenology of religion radical empiricism religious experience interpretation
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:William James stands at the nexus of two intellectual traditions important to religious studies: phenomenology of religion and radical empiricism. Focusing on James’s work, I identify three essential points of contact between radical empiricism and phenomenology of religion: epoché, the affective character of consciousness, and the inevitably open-ended nature of experience. I argue that these resonances allow them to be integrated, thereby furnishing a more robust and defensible understanding of the category of “experience.” This integrated approach responds to recent criticisms of phenomenology of religion, and describes a complimentary relationship between it and other, explanatory approaches to the study of religion and religious experience.
ISSN:1570-0682
Contains:In: Method & theory in the study of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700682-12341343