James H. Leuba

James Henry Leuba
Born	April 9, 1868 (1868-04-09) Motiers, Neuchatel, Switzerland
Died	December 8, 1946 (1946-12-09) (aged 78) Winter Park, Florida
Spouse	Bertha Aline Schopher
Children	7
Era	19th/20th century philosophy
Region	Western Philosophy and Psychology
School	Naturalism
Academic advisors	G. Stanley Hall
Main interests	Naturalism, psychology, psychology of religion, mysticism

James Henry Leuba (April 9, 1868 – December 8, 1946) was an American psychologist best known for his contributions to the psychology of religion. His son Clarence James Leuba was also a psychologist and taught at Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio.^[1]

Career

Leuba was born in Neuchâtel Switzerland, and later moved to America. He took his Ph.D. at Clark University under G. Stanley Hall.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] His psychological study of religion aroused opposition from churchmen.^[1] 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.^[4]

Bibliography

• Leuba, J. H. (1909). The Psychological Origin and the Nature of Religion.
• Leuba, J. H. (1912). The Psychological Study of Religion: Its Origin, Function, and Future. New York: Macmillan.
• Leuba, J. H. (1916). The Belief in God and Immortality. Boston: Sherman, French.
• Leuba, J. H. (1925). The Psychology of Religious Mysticism. New York: Harcourt, Brace. (1925 UK edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner).
• Leuba, J. H. (1933). God or Man? A Study of the Value of God to Man. New York: Henry Holt and Company. (1934 UK edition. London: Kegan Paul, Trench & Trubner).

See also

• Psychology of religion

References

External links

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