The Varieties of Religious Experience · Chapter
Lecture VIII: The Divided Self, and the Process of Its Unification explained
This lecture explores the psychological phenomenon of the divided self, contrasting the once-born healthy-minded with the twice-born sick souls.
What happens
This lecture explores the psychological phenomenon of the divided self, contrasting the once-born healthy-minded with the twice-born sick souls. It examines the inner discord and heterogeneity that characterize the twice-born temperament, leading to a sense of inner conflict and melancholy. The process of unification, whether gradual or abrupt, brings relief and can occur through religious or non-religious means. The lecture uses examples such as Saint Augustine and Henry Alline to illustrate the struggle and eventual peace found in religious conversion.
Themes in this chapter
Healthy-Mindedness and the Sick Soul
The lecture contrasts the once-born healthy-minded with the twice-born sick souls, focusing on the latter's inner discord.
Conversion and Transformation
The process of unification is explored as a psychological event that can be religious or non-religious, with examples like Saint Augustine and Jouffroy.
Pathology and Genius in Religion
The divided self is presented as a psychological condition that can lead to religious genius, as seen in the examples of Augustine and Alline.
Characters to notice
- Alphonse Daudet
Quoted on the experience of inner duality, 'Homo duplex'.
- Saint Augustine
Classic example of the divided self and religious conversion.
- Henry Alline
Evangelist whose autobiography illustrates the struggle with inner discord and eventual unification.
- Théodore Jouffroy
Described a 'counter-conversion' away from religion, showing the process of unification in a non-religious context.
Key passages
“The last lecture was a painful one, dealing as it did with evil as a pervasive element of the world we live in.”
The previous lecture was difficult because it addressed the widespread presence of evil in our world.
Summarizes the opening of the chapter.
“In the religion of the twice-born, on the other hand, the world is a double-storied mystery.”
For those who are twice-born, the world is a complex mystery with multiple layers.
Explains the twice-born perspective.
“The psychological basis of the twice-born character seems to be a certain discordancy or heterogeneity in the native temperament of the subject, an incompletely unified moral and intellectual constitution.”
The twice-born personality is rooted in an inner conflict or lack of harmony in one's natural temperament.
Defines the psychological foundation of the twice-born.
“Happiness! happiness! religion is only one of the ways in which men gain that gift.”
Happiness can be achieved through many means, and religion is just one of them.
Highlights the broader context of religious experience.