From Varieties to Elementary Forms

Abstract

This article traces the relation between the thought of William James and that of Émile Durkheim with regard to religious experience. It shows the complexity of Durkheim's relationship to pragmatism and his response to it both as an admirer and as a critic of James, and centres on a close examination of James's Varieties of Religious Experience and how aspects of this are woven into the development of Durkheim's argument in The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. The focus of the article is on the logic of Durkheim's view of religious reality and how James influenced this. It traces the common philosophical ancestor of both James and Durkheim and raises question about the appropriate methodology for the study of religion.