Hearing Voices in The Varieties of Religious Experience
Journal of Speculative Philosophy April 1, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.5325/jspecphil.39.2.0190 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience uses testimony as a pedagogical tool, making the text a performative, multivocal experiment in teaching. This approach aligns with liberatory education theorists Paulo Freire and bell hooks, emphasizing how the book's style and structure actively engage readers in learning rather than simply presenting doctrine.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | James's Varieties functions as a performative, multivocal pedagogical experiment that anticipates liberatory education theories. |
Abstract
abstract:This article considers the role of testimony in William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience in order to highlight the unique style and structure of the text and its effect on readers. Understanding Varieties as a performative, multivocal, creative experiment in pedagogy and teaching puts the book in conversation with more contemporary theorists of liberatory education including Paulo Freire and bell hooks.