About the lecture

In this module we look at the common characteristics of religious experience, focusing particularly on (i) James’ definition of religion relating to individuals’ feelings, acts and experiences, rather than institutional structures (ii) the healthy minded and the sick soul (iii) and how religious experience can invoke liberation, through a journey of a divided self towards unification.

About the lecturer

Professor Jeremy Carrette is Professor of Philosophy, Religion and Culture at the University of Kent. He has published work on the French philosopher Michel Foucault, the American pragmatist William James, psychological theories of religious experience and led a research project on religious NGOs at the United Nations. His recent publications include Religion and Critical Psychology: Religious Experience in the Knowledge Economy (2007) and William James’s Hidden Religious Imagination: A Universe of Relations (2013).