Abstract
At the turn of the twentieth century, the mind-cure movement emphasized the healing power of positive emotions and beliefs. William James defended mind-cure during the Massachusetts legislature's debates on licensing physicians in 1894 and 1898. In The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902) he used the movement's therapeutic claims to illustrate the typically American, practical turn of the “religion of healthy-mindedness.” Varieties sympathetically surveys mind-cure literature, but also criticizes healthy-minded religion for its limited range and refusal to confront tragedy and radical evil. Many of today's mind/body therapies continue the mind-cure tradition and retain the limitations that James noted.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Benson, H., with M. Z. Klipper. (1976). The Relaxation Response. New York: Avon Books.
Benson, H., with W. Proctor. Beyond the Relaxation Response: How to Harness the Healing Power of Your Personal Beliefs. (1985). New York: Berkley Books.
Benson, H., with M. Stark. (1997). Timeless Healing: The Power and Biology of Belief. New York: Fireside / Simon & Schuster.
Bjork, D. (1988). William James: The Center of His Vision. New York: Columbia University Press.
Cousins, N. (1990). Head First: The Biology of Hope and the Healing Power of the Human Spirit. New York: Penguin Books.
Dossey, L. (1993). Healing Words: The Power of Prayer and the Practice of Medicine. New York & San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco/HarperCollins.
Dresser, H. W. (1899/1906). Voices of Freedom and Studies in the Philosophy of Individuality. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Duclow, D. F. (1981). Dying on Broadway: Contemporary Drama and Mortality. Soundings, 64, 173–185.
Frank, A. (1995). The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness, and Ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Goddard, H. H. (1899, April). The Effects of Mind on Body as Evidenced by Faith Cures. American Journal of Psychology, 10, 431–502.
Howe, M. A. DeWolfe, ed. (1928, December). A Packet of Wendell-James Letters. Scribners Magazine, 84, 675–687.
James, W. (1987). Essays, Reviews and Comments. Ed. F. Bowers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
James, W. (1902/1985). The Varieties of Religious Experience. Ed. F. Bowers. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
James, W. (1897/1956). The Will to Believe and Other Essays on Popular Philosophy. New York: Dover.
Kleinman, A. (1988). The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing and the Human Condition. New York: Basic Books.
Levin, J. (2001). God, Faith, and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Healing Connection. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Moyers, B. (1993). Healing and the Mind. Ed. B. Flowers. New York: Doubleday.
Parker, G. T. (1973). Mind Cure in New England: From the Civil War to World War I. Hanover, NH: University of New England Press.
Siegel, B. S. (1986). Love, Medicine and Miracles: Lessons Learned about Self-Healing from a Surgeon's Experience with Exceptional Patients. New York: Harper & Row.
Simon, L. (1998). Genuine Reality: A Life of William James. New York: Harcourt Brace & Company.
Stroudt, C. (1968). William James and the Twice-Born Soul. Daedalus, 97, 1062–1082.
Trine, R. W. (1899/1995). In Tune with the Infinite: Fullness of Peace, Power and Plenty. London: Thorsons/Harper-Collins.
Wood, H. (1893). Ideal Suggestion through Mental Photography. Boston: Lea & Shepard.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Duclow, D.F. William James, Mind-Cure, and the Religion of Healthy-Mindedness. Journal of Religion and Health 41, 45–56 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015106105669
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015106105669