PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION.
The author of An Introduction to the Psychology of Religion is to be congratulated on having written a work of value on a vast subject within the small compass of 282 pages. The empirical method of approach to religious psychology which was adopted by William James in his classic work, Varieties of Religious Experience, is still further elaborated by Mr. Thouless, and brought into line with modern psychological developments such as Psycho-analysis and the findings of the new Nancy School of Auto-suggestion. His treatment of the thorny subject of Mysticism is so clear as to be easily comprehensible to anyone—a rare achievement. Mr. Thouless is careful throughout to preserve a proper scientific detachment and not to grind any theological axe ; but in his last chapter he uses his data to construct an excellent Christian Apologetic of a pragmatic order, which will appeal to all those who seek in psychology and philosophy for evidence in favour of their Christian beliefs.
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