'Is life worth living? Yes, a thousand times yes when the world still holds such spirits as Professor James.' - "Gertrude Stein". This is a classic of American thought by William James. "The Varieties of Religious Experience" is an extraordinary study of human spirituality in all its forms and one of the most profound works of Psychology ever written. When the book was published in 1902, the study of the human mind was a thrillingly new field of scientific enquiry: James was one of the first to seriously examine the psychology of religious faith and where he led, both Jung and Freud would follow.Yet for all its historical significance, this is a book full of humanity, wit and some deeply personal stories of revelation, religious devotion and mystical experience. "The Routledge Classics" edition of "The Varieties of Religious Experience" makes available in paperback for the first time the Centenary Edition published by Routledge in 2002 with new introductions on the historical and contemporary significance of James' work and a foreword by the author's grandson, Micky James.

威廉·詹姆斯（William James，1842—1910）美国本土第一位哲学家和心理学家，也是教育学家，实用主义的倡导者，美国机能主义心理学派创始人之一，也是美国最早的实验心理学家之一。1875年，建立美国第一个心理学实验室。1904年当选为美国心理学会主席，1906年当选为国家科学院院士。2006年，詹姆斯被美国的权威期刊《大西洋月刊》评为影响美国的100位人物之一（第62位）。