The demons of William James : religious pragmatism explores unusual mental states /

In this welcome addition to an all-too-often-neglected aspect of the thought of William James (1842--1910), Ruetenik (philosophy, St. Ambrose Univ.) explores James's work with the Society for Psychical Research. To his credit and in the spirit of James, Ruetenik avoids the easy dismissal of these phenomena that is typical of traditional religionists and skeptical scientists. Beginning with a preliminary outline of the demonic, Ruetenik moves on to discuss the relationship between pragmatism and demonology, which he then illustrates through various demonic phenomena such as hypnotism, mediumship, and collective demon possession as found in the Salem witch trials (Ruetenik's discussion of the last of these is particularly valuable). Writing with Jamesian verve and openness to the possible, the author combines the personal with the conceptual, the biographical with the philosophical, as he slowly, chapter by chapter, builds his case for a pragmatist demonology that, though motivated by James, extends James's work in this area into new directions while opening new vistas for rethinking James's thought. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergradutes through faculty; general readers. --Joshua Andrew Fischel, Millersville University