William James and historical mysticism

Though many commentators on William James sharply divide the religious ideas from his ostensibly more secular philosophy and science, this dissertation argues that such disconnect is not evident in his writing. Rather, like the pluralistic universe he imagined, many seemingly disparate interests are interconnected in James's thought to form a paradoxical union of multiplicity. Specifically, faith in mysticism, the dissolution of the individual self into a greater entity, reverberates through his work influencing his psychology, pragmatism, and democratic social theories while simultaneously being shaped by them. An astute social observer, James recognized the intellectual and cultural crises of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century and argued that his generation needed a new, specifically American religion to fit neatly with and to inspire democracy, scientific experimentation, and new theories of historical contingency and flux. To paraphrase a famous line from The Varieties of Religious Experience, a re-imagined mystical ideal serves as the root and center of this nationalist belief.; Though mysticism has been a much-maligned subject of late, James's faith was neither escapist nor merely therapeutic. Instead, his respect for mysticism was as influential to his worldview as his philosophy or politics. In fact, these fields were so tightly intertwined for him, each stimulating and shaping the others, that they could not be easily unraveled. Thus, mysticism is not necessarily morbid, escapist, or hopelessly childish as many scholars might have it. James demonstrated that mystical ideas can offer creative potential, enriching more empirical and academically acceptable thought while in turn reflecting that thought.; Guided by his sensitivity to the interrelation of sacred and secular belief, this dissertation examines the potent influence that concepts of mystical understanding had on William James's overall work. As an intellectual and cultural history, it also explores how James's expression of a new American faith was a product of and statement about his society, lending new perspective to the dynamic and often chaotic years in which he wrote. Finally, by re-imagining such a seminal thinker, this study presents James's powerful articulation of religious and ethical thought that can still engage and interact with modern scientific society.