James H. Leuba

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]

James Henry Leuba
Born	April 9, 1868 Motiers, Neuchatel, Switzerland
Died	December 8, 1946 Winter Park, Florida
Spouse(s)	Bertha Aline Schopher
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

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

1. McBride, Katharine E. (1947). James Henry Leuba: 1867-1946. American Journal of Psychology 60 (4): 645-646.
2. Atheist Scholar
3. PsycNET
4. Martin, Michael. (2007). The Cambridge Companion to Atheism. Cambridge University Press. p. 310. ISBN 9780521842709. "Among celebrity atheists with much biographical data, we find leading psychologists and psychoanalysts. We could provide a long list, including...James Leuba..."

External links

• Works by James H. Leuba at Project Gutenberg
• Works by James H. Leuba at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Works by or about James H. Leuba at Internet Archive