The Influence of William James on the Spirituality of Alcoholics’ Anonymous
K. Kirkland
Journal of Humanistic Psychology July 2, 2018 DOI: 10.1177/0022167818782522 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that Alcoholics Anonymous has fully incorporated the spirituality of William James's The Varieties of Religious Experience, contrary to Bevacqua and Hoffman's (2010) claim that it falls short. Applying James's pragmatic method, the author contends AA is complete, citing almost 2 million members worldwide, and that AA is not exclusivist but permits members to construct their own inclusive spiritual path. |
Abstract
This article challenges Bevacqua and Hoffman’s (2010) seminal article in this journal on the degree to which Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) falls short in its attempt to download the complete spirituality of William James into the AA canon. Results of the analysis of this question reveal that AA has fully incorporated the depth of The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902/1985). When application of James’s pragmatic method is applied to AA, the organization emerges as complete, with the abundant fruit of almost 2 million members worldwide. AA practices are not exclusivist, and do not offer a “one size fits all” restrictive paradigm. Rather, inspired by James, AA consistently gives explicit permission to members to find a path of their own construction that develops into an inclusive paradigm that has a lifelong trajectory.