Abstract

VIALE, Claudio Marcelo. Voluntarism and Self-surrender in William James’s Conception of Religion. arete [online]. 2015, vol.27, n.2, pp.51-65. ISSN 1016-913X.

In this work I hold that William James’s conception of religion is divided between what could be identified as his voluntarism and his idea of self-surrender. In my approach, James’s voluntarism is the heart of The Will to Believe, whereas the idea of self-surrender is the key to understand The Varieties of Religious Experience. These two works respond to a tension in James’s philosophy and can be seen as two antagonistic intellectual projects. The analysis of this inner tension in James’s conception of religion is the core of this paper. I will also state that his self-surrender notion, unlike his voluntarism, allows us to visualize an essential aspect of James’s conception, that is to say, its morbid aspect.

Keywords : classical pragmatism; William James; religion; self-surrender; voluntarism.

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