PT XII —

XII. Franzese et al., Fringes of Religious Experience Sergio Franzese & Felicitas Krämer (eds.), Fringes of Religious Experience. Cross-perspectives on William James’s Varieties of Religious Experience, Frankfurt / Lancaster, ontos verlag, Process Thought XII, 2007. (210 p. ; ISBN 978-3-938793-57-2 ; 79 €) William James’s 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 University of Edinburgh 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 a on the historical sources and reception of James’s ideas in American and European culture. Sergio Franzese is Ph.D. in philosophy at Vanderbilt University (Nashville-TN) and 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, XIX 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. She teaches philosophy at the University of Düsseldorf, Germany. Her works include a book on William James’s conception of reality (Erfahrungsvielfalt und Wirklichkeit : Zu William James’ Realitätsverständnis, 2006), and articles on American Philosophy and on emotion theory in ethics and the philosophy of mind. Table of Contents Foreword M. Weber, James’ Mystical Body in the Light of the Transmarginal Field of Consciousness H. Atmanspacher & W. Fach, Acategoriality as Mental Instability. A Dynamical Systems Approach to James’ Account of Mental Activity C. Eisendrath, The Unifying Moment : Toward a Theory of Complexity. Whitehead on Universe’s Responsability and the Role of God I. Possenti, Education and Conversion. The Plasticity of the Self R. Del Castillo, The Glass Prison. Emerson, James and the Religion of the Individual M. Omar, Science as a Religious Experience : The James–Kuhn Perspective S. Franzese, Is Religious Experience the Experience of Something ? “Truth,” Belief and “Overbelief” in the Varieties of Religious Experience J. Nubiola & I. Martinez, Unamuno’s Reading of the Varieties of Religious Experience and its Context M. Girel, A Chronicle of Pragmatism in France Before 1907. William James in Renouvier’s Critique philosophique N. Nikolova, The Early Bulgarian Reception of William James. A Brief Survey