The Will to Believe

The Will to Believe PDF Author: William James
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Belief and doubt
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description

The Will to Believe

The Will to Believe PDF Author: William James
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Belief and doubt
Languages : en
Pages : 360

Get Book Here

Book Description


Pragmatism and Other Writings

Pragmatism and Other Writings PDF Author: William James
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101221615
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
The writings of William James represent one of America's most original contributions to the history of ideas. Ranging from philosophy and psychology to religion and politics, James composed the most engaging formulation of American pragmatism. 'Pragmatism' grew out of a set of lectures and the full text is included here along with 'The Meaning of Truth', 'Psychology', 'The Will to Believe', and 'Talks to Teachers on Psychology'.

The Will to Believe

The Will to Believe PDF Author: William James
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781537445984
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Book Description
The Will to Believe - William James. "The Will to Believe" is a lecture by William James, first published in 1896, which defends, in certain cases, the adoption of a belief without prior evidence of its truth. In particular, James is concerned in this lecture about defending the rationality of religious faith even lacking sufficient evidence of religious truth. James states in his introduction: "I have brought with me tonight [...] an essay in justification of faith, a defense of our right to adopt a believing attitude in religious matters, in spite of the fact that our merely logical intellect may not have been coerced. 'The Will to Believe, ' accordingly, is the title of my paper." James' central argument in "The Will to Believe" hinges on the idea that access to the evidence for whether or not certain beliefs are true depends crucially upon first adopting those beliefs without evidence. As an example, James argues that it can be rational to have unsupported faith in one's own ability to accomplish tasks that require confidence. Importantly, James points out that this is the case even for pursuing scientific inquiry. James then argues that like belief in one's own ability to accomplish a difficult task, religious faith can also be rational even if one at the time lacks evidence for the truth of one's religious belief.

The Ethics of Belief

The Ethics of Belief PDF Author: William Kingdon Clifford
Publisher: Good Press
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 34

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Book Description
This book combines the two essays which comprise the famous philosophical exchange between the mathematician William Kingdon Clifford and William James, a psychologist and philosopher. Famous for articulating their arguments and discussing morality surrounding belief, these two papers are united in a single edition.

The Will to Believe

The Will to Believe PDF Author: William James
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
ISBN: 9781545245910
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 30

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Book Description
The Will to Believe by William James "The Will to Believe" is a lecture by William James, first published in 1896, which defends, in certain cases, the adoption of a belief without prior evidence of its truth. In particular, James is concerned in this lecture about defending the rationality of religious faith even lacking sufficient evidence of religious truth. James states in his introduction: "I have brought with me tonight [...] an essay in justification of faith, a defense of our right to adopt a believing attitude in religious matters, in spite of the fact that our merely logical intellect may not have been coerced. 'The Will to Believe, ' accordingly, is the title of my paper." James' central argument in "The Will to Believe" hinges on the idea that access to the evidence for whether or not certain beliefs are true depends crucially upon first adopting those beliefs without evidence. As an example, James argues that it can be rational to have unsupported faith in one's own ability to accomplish tasks that require confidence. Importantly, James points out that this is the case even for pursuing scientific inquiry. James then argues that like belief in one's own ability to accomplish a difficult task, religious faith can also be rational even if one at the time lacks evidence for the truth of one's religious belief.

Evidentialism and the Will to Believe

Evidentialism and the Will to Believe PDF Author: Scott Aikin
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1623560179
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Work on the norms of belief in epistemology regularly starts with two touchstone essays: W.K. Clifford's "The Ethics of Belief" and William James's "The Will to Believe." Discussing the central themes from these seminal essays, Evidentialism and the Will to Believe explores the history of the ideas governing evidentialism. As well as Clifford's argument from the examples of the shipowner, the consequences of credulity and his defence against skepticism, this book tackles James's conditions for a genuine option and the structure of the will to believe case as a counter-example to Clifford's evidentialism. Exploring the question of whether James's case successfully counters Clifford's evidentialist rule for belief, this study captures the debate between those who hold that one should proportion belief to evidence and those who hold that the evidentialist norm is too restrictive. More than a sustained explication of the essays, it also surveys recent epistemological arguments to evidentialism. But it is by bringing Clifford and James into fruitful conversation for the first time that this study presents a clearer history of the issues and provides an important reconstruction of the notion of evidence in contemporary epistemology.

The Will to Believe and Human Immortality

The Will to Believe and Human Immortality PDF Author: William James
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486119076
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Book Description
Two books bound together, from religious period of one of the most renowned and representative thinkers. Illuminations of age-old religious questions from a pragmatic perspective, written in a luminous style.

William James on the Courage to Believe

William James on the Courage to Believe PDF Author: Robert J. O'Connell
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780823285211
Category : Belief and doubt
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
William James's celebrated lecture on "The Will to Believe" has kindled spirited controversy since the day it was delivered. In this lively reappraisal of that controversy, Father O'Connell contributes some fresh contentions: that James's argument should be viewed against his indebtedness to Pascal and Renouvier; that it works primarily to validate our "over-beliefs"; and most surprising perhaps, that James envisages our "passional nature" as intervening, not after, but before and throughout, our intellectual weighting of the evidence for belief. For this second edition, Father O'Connell has added extensively to sharpen his arguments: that James's "deontological streak" saves him from "wishful thinking" and weaves together the attitudes of right, readiness, willingness, and will to believe, and that "willing faith" lends "the facts" their aura of believability.

William James on Ethics and Faith

William James on Ethics and Faith PDF Author: Michael R. Slater
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 052176016X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
A new interpretation of James's ethical and religious thought focusing on the prominent role these views played in his philosophy.

Is Life Worth Living?

Is Life Worth Living? PDF Author: William James
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Life
Languages : en
Pages : 82

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Book Description