Name James Leuba School Naturalism | Died 1946 Role Psychologist | |
Era 19th/20th century philosophy Region Western Philosophy and Psychology Books The Belief In God And Immortality, Psychological Study of Religion, The Psychology of Religio, The Psychological Origin an, The Psychological Origin an | ||
Main interests Psychology, Mysticism | ||
A study in the psychology of religious phenomena audiobook james h leuba
James Henry Leuba (April 9, 1868 – December 8, 1946) was an American psychologist best known for his contributions to the psychology of religion.
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Career
Leuba was born in Neuchâtel and later lived in America. He took his Ph.D. at Clark University under G. Stanley Hall. His work was marked by a tendency to explain mysticism and other religious experiences in psychological terms. Philosophically, his position may be described as naturalism. His work points to similarities between religious mysticism and yoga or drug-induced mysticism; he does accept differences between these in terms of moral motivation and to what uses mysticism is put. His psychological study of religion aroused opposition from churchmen. He argued for a naturalistic treatment of religion, which he considered to be necessary if religious psychology was to be looked at scientifically. He was an atheist.