The Varieties of Religious Experience

A peaceful soul in concert with a healthy body advances joy, which is the purpose of life. That is William James's message, highly synthesized, of course. Sound like new age spiritualism? Lectures the psychologist delivered in 1901 and 1902 are the basis for this program; however, there are no titles or introductory remarks. While Eric Bauersfeld's articulate delivery conveys wisdom and scholarship, the highly abridged presentation simply does not do justice to the author's work. James's philosophical and psychological ideas are too complex to present on two cassettes. D.W.K. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine