William James and the Metaphysics of Experience

William James Is Frequently Considered One Of America''S Most Important Philosophers As Well As A Foundational Thinker For The Study Of Religion. Despite His Reputation As The Founder Of Pragmatism He Is Rarely Considered A Serious Philosopher Or Religious Thinker. In This New Interpretation David Lamberth Argues That James''S Major Contribution Was To Develop A Systematic Metaphysics Of Experience Integrally Related To His Developing Pluralistic And Social Religious Ideas. Lamberth Systematically Interprets James''S Radically Empiricist World-View And Argues For An Early Dating (1895) For His Commitment To The Metaphysics Of Radical Empiricism. He Offers A Close Reading Of Varieties Of Religious Experience; And Concludes By Connecting James''S Ideas About Experience Pluralism And Truth To Current Debates In Philosophy The Philosophy Of Religion And Theology Suggesting James''S Functional Experiential Metaphysics As A Conceptual Aid In Bridging The Social And Interpretive With The Immediate And Concrete While Avoiding Naive Realism.