A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is, if nothing else, a record of the psychological journeys of Stephen Dedalus as he progresses from child to adult, From ignorant rural boy to student intellectual, from sinner to saint to artist. Stephen's level of devotion and intensity, regardless of the object of these feelings, seems to increase after each transformation, culminating in his "desire to hold in my arms the beauty that has not yet come into the world" (273). William James, the early 20th century American psychologist, examined real-life experiences similar to Stephen Dedalus's conversions, religious transformations, and sainthood in his classic book on the psychology of religion, The Varieties of Religious Experience. James provides insight into Stephen's motivations, approaches, and actions by using philosophy and psychology to analyze religion, particularly Christianity, and its effect on the human psyche. Of particular interest are James's discussions of conversions, especially when viewed in light of Stephen's passage from the depths of sin to the height of fanatical asceticism, followed by his full embrace of art and beauty as the true object of his desire. A careful analysis of James's works will illustrate whether Stephen's religious awakening was a true spiritual experience or simply a response to the pressures of his environment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay From an early age, Stephen Dedalus shows a strong devotion to systems or orders imposed from outside, by family, church or country. As he grows up, Stephen begins to shed these social constraints one at a time, undergoing a series of conversions that change his direction in life, of which the most notable are his sudden change into a fanatically religious ascetic and his eventual transformation in the Artist. Stephen's religious epiphany occurs after listening to a lecture on hell given by Father Arnall at the University retreat honoring St. Francis Xavier. Realizing that his soul is "rotting in sin," Stephen turns to God and weeps "for the innocence he had lost" (150). After confessing every single sin, Stephen finally feels the weight of guilt lifted from his shoulders and rededicates his life to God. He becomes a strict ascetic, denying himself any pleasure of the flesh or mind and praying constantly. However, after being asked to become a priest, Stephen discovers that his true purpose in life is Art, and abandons his ascetic and religious lifestyle. William James undertakes to study the extraordinary phenomenon of conversion, " whereby a self hitherto divided, and consciously wrong inferior and unhappy, becomes unified and consciously right superior and happy, as a consequence of its firmer grip on religious realities" (Lesson Nine). It reports the studies of Professor Starbuck of Stanford, who undertook a statistical analysis to determine the causes of the conversion. Starbuck concludes that "conversion is in its essence a normal adolescent phenomenon, incidental in the transition from the small universe of the child to the larger intellectual and spiritual life of maturity" (Lesson Nine), adding that the normal age for such experiences varies from fourteen years old at seventeen. The sense of incompleteness and imperfection is common in these conversions; brooding, depression, morbid introspection and a sense of sin; anxiety about the afterlife; anguish over doubts and the like. James then writes about Professor Leuba, who focuses on the moral aspect of conversion rather than the theological one. ThereReligion, Leuba states, is simply a word that has come to mean the "conglomerate of desires and emotions that arise from a sense of sin and its liberation", i.e. a man's religion has no effect on his spiritual conversions. It uses several cases of drunkard conversions which were obviously not doctrinal, simply situations where one absolutely needs God's help and receives it. To be valid, this moment of salvation does not need to be connected to an institutional religion. So, how do these theories provide insight into Stephen's conversions? His first conversion, to a devout Catholic, fits Starbuck's theories perfectly. Stephen is 16 years old, between 14 and 17. As he sins, Stephen is aware of his mistake "He had sinned mortally not once but many times and knew it, while he was in danger of eternal damnation for the first sin alone", with each subsequent sin multiplied his guilt and punishment" (110), showing an acknowledgment of sin and a doubt about the afterlife. "A cold, lucid indifference reigned in his soul" (110), while Stephen goes through periods of brooding, depression, and morbid introspection. Starbuck points out that the results in every adolescent conversion are the same, happy relief and objectivity, and after his sudden conversion, Stephen exclaims, "Another life! A life of grace, virtue, and happiness!...the past was the past" (158). Considering that Stephen's conversion adheres almost exactly to Starbuck's previous experiences, it seems natural that Starbuck's conclusion that conversion is a normal adolescent phenomenon that may or may not have long-term effects, also applies to Stephen's situation, and this is supported by Stephen's subsequent behavior Stephen's second conversion from devout ascetic to passionate artist occurs after he comes offered a place in the order. Stephen has a vision of "a winged form flying above the waves" and realizes that his future lies not in the Church, but in his ability to create from within himself Leuba's theories more closely than Starbuck's. Stephen's first conversion, to the Catholic ascetic, is almost entirely driven by a sense of sin, corresponding to Leuba's "feeling of incompleteness." Leuba considers these types of conversions invalid, since they are driven by a sense of doctrine and control by the church, while true conversions are free from such "doctrinal theology". Stephen's conversion to an artist is completely free of the influence of the church, driven solely by his innermost feelings and desires. At the moment when he most needs God's guidance, he is overcome by a feeling of ecstasy that leads him to his true destiny: "to create proudly with the freedom and power of his soul, like the great creator whose name he bore ". " (184). Leuba states that a conversion "begins with the absolute need for higher help and ends with the feeling that he has helped us", succinctly describing Stephen's experience. This conversion, unlike his last, is truly driven by Stephen's true feelings and desires. The final differences in the two conversions lie in their origin, or type. Following his writings on Starbuck and Leuba, James discusses the two different types of conversion: volitional, in which the converted actively seeks to change, and. Self-surrender, in which change takes effect on its own. While both types of conversion are valid, James believes that self-surrender is more effective in the long term, because the volitional conversion emphasizes the “imperfect self,” while. Conversion with self-surrender is driven by the subliminal forces of the “better self in posse.”,.