Guiding Question: Is Galahad a saint or a psychopath?
At the turn of the twentieth century William James
gave his famous ìGifford Lecturesî at the University of Edinburgh.
These lectures later became published in the form of the book, The
Varieties of Religious Experience. William James began his
academic career in Physiology until he later became a psychologist.
During that time he published Psychology: A Briefer Course in which
he described human consciousness as a stream of ideas. By the time
he made these lectures James considered himself a philosopher while retaining
the views accumulated through his experiences in experimental psychology.
Jamesí approach to religion in The
Varieties of Religious Experience is both rational and practical.
He judges the religious practices of human beings by their ìfruitsî (or
by the positive effects on the practicing believer and his/her community).
James uses evidence from human history to show both the positive and negative
effects of religious practices. He demonstrates the limitations of
reason alone in light of the powers of transformation, endurance, morality
and creative genius resulting from experiences due to faith. He attributes
these powers to the unconscious, though he does not rule out the possibility
of ìdivine intervention.î Even then, he shows that the divine will
seems to be expressed through the portal of the unconscious.
Certainly the bulk of psychological research on
the unconscious has been accomplished in the twentieth century by Sigmund
Freud and Carl Jung. James Hillman, among others, have employed Jungian
psychology to established a new branch in the field called "Depth Psychology."
It is highly recommended that the student, wishing to do further research
in the area of the unconscious, begin by reading James Hillmanís Revisioning
Psychology. In Hillman, Jungís archetypes of the unconscious
regain their independence from the Ego and, once again, become the gods
of old. Depth Psychology addresses each individualís ìinner worldî
which certainly affects their behavior in the ìouter worldî but not as
directly as James' work, which also seems to be foreshadowing Behaviorism.
William Jamesí work, The
Varieties of Religious Experience, is used in this course because
of its focus on how religion is used, affecting daily life and the possible
benefits to the community. This text will help us find ways, in our
discussions, to judge the characters in the Quest by the world-views
represented in The Quest of the Holy Grail and our own. At
this point in the story, ìThe Adventures of the Companions,î Galahad and
his friends have just enacted a great slaughter of human life. It
is interesting to note that Galahad had avoided much killing up until this
point and had even regretted the loss of life in this instance. However,
a priest appears later to tell the heroes that their victimsí deaths were
justified. Galahadís actions may be considered right and consistent
within the values represented by the book, but what should we think about
the possibility of the existence of others whose values may be different
than the authorís. This would certainly be a greater concern if the
story represented itself as an historical text as opposed to fiction.
But, even as a fictional story, it is promoting values that we might not
think appropriate, even for 1220 CE when the story was composed, and/or from
1 to 600 CE when the story was supposed to have occurred.
Are our heroes of the Quest merely slaughtering
psychopathic or are they merely oppressing others whose beliefs may be
different than their own? On the other hand, what benefits do the knights
and their community receive due to their faith in the principles of their
religion, and how might we acquire those benefits for ourselves?
We will address these and similar questions in the conferences.
Required Reading: "Week 10" in the Study Guide; The Quest of the Holy Grail, pp. 235-251; William James: Selections from The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902).
Homework:
1) Although you are only required to read from the chapter entitled
"Saintliness" to the end of the book, The
Varietiesof Religious Experience, it is recommended that you read
the entire work.
2) Please add your own brief psychological analyses of the principle
characters in the Quest to your online journal.
3) Also, please explore your own unconscious by adding descriptions
of your dreams to your online journal.