Fringes of Religious Experience: Cross-perspectives on William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience

William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience is one of the most renowned works of the famous psychologist and founder of pragmatism, and a fully accomplished anthropological analysis of the phenomenon of religion.

In this book a selection of 10 papers from international scholars, previously presented at the International Centennary Conference in Celebration of The Gifford Lectures at the University of Edinburgh (UK) in 2002, explore the theoretical and historical "fringes" of James's work in the attempt to provide new insights into some major issues involved therein. The book is divided into two parts. The first part deals with important philosophical and psychological issues related to James's account of religious experience. A second shorter section lays a focus on the historical sources and reception of James's ideas in American and European culture.

Sergio Franzese received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. He is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Lecce (Italy). His studies focused on American pragmatism, in particular on William James, nineteenth-century continental philosophy and phenomenology. His production includes several articles and translations, and major works such as of L'uomo indeterminato. Saggio su William James (D'Anselmi, 2000) and Nietzsche e l'America (ETS, 2005).

Felicitas Kraemer holds a doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Heidelberg (Germany). She teaches philosophy at the University of Dsseldorf (Germany). Her works include a book on William James's conception of reality, Erfahrungsvielfalt und Wirklichkeit: Zu William James' Realittsverstndnis, 2006, and articles on American Philosophy and on emotion theory in ethics and the philosophy of mind.