William James ( )

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1 William James ( )

2 The Will to Believe 1896 There are some circumstances when one may, or even must, believe a proposicon, even though one does not have sufficient evidence for that proposicon. So contra Clifford, It is not wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.

3 What is a Genuine OpCon? Hypotheses are proposicons that are candidates for being believed. An op,on is a decision between believing one or another of two hypotheses. An opcon is a living opcon for a person when both hypotheses have at least some appeal to the person. An opcon is forced when one cannot avoid seleccng one of the alternacves. An opcon is momentous when a great deal turns on one s decision. An opcon is a genuine opcon when it is of the forced, living, and momentous kind (106).

4 James Thesis Our passional nature not only lawfully may, but must, decide an opcon between proposicons, whenever it is a genuine opcon that cannot by its nature be decided on intellectual grounds (109). Two condicons for when our passional nature can decide an opcon: 1) It is a genuine opcon 2) The opcon cannot be decided on intellectual grounds

5 Intellectual Grounds Things that can be decided on intellectual grounds: How many chairs are in this room, the chemical composicon of plascc, how many stars are in the Andromeda galaxy. Things that cannot be decided on intellectual grounds: the existence of God, whether there is free- will, the immortality of the Soul. Where something cannot be decided on intellectual grounds, our passional nature can have a say in what we believe.

6 Our Passional Nature In saying that our passional nature has a bearing on belief, James is not saying that we can simply choose what we want to believe. For example, unless there is a pre- exiscng tendency to believe in God unless this is a living hypothesis one can t will oneself into this belief. Our passional nature is comprised of all the non- ra,onal influences on our belief: fear, passions, prejudices, the intellectual climate of our class and culture that we unconsciously accept, etc. Such influences make certain hypotheses alive or dead for us in the first place.

7 Two DuCes of Belief There are two ways of looking at our duty in the maaer of opinion: we must know the truth and we must avoid error. These are our first and great commandments as would- be knowers; but there are not two ways of stacng an idenccal commandment, they are two separable laws (109). James thinks Clifford runs together two discnct duces: 1. To know the truth 2. To avoid error

8 Clifford s Passion Clifford s main duty is to avoid error by suspending judgment, lest he fall into error. But this duty is just an expression of Clifford s passional nature: His private horror of becoming a dupe. He may be criccal of many of his desires and fears, but this fear he slavishly obeys (110). But by obeying this fear, perhaps Clifford misses our on some truths, which requires experimenta,on and risk.

9 In What Circumstances can Passion Righeully Determine Belief?

10 Science If something can be decided on intellectual grounds one ought only to form a belief about it based on sufficient evidence. Whenever a quescon is not momentous or forced, like a quescon in pure science, we should not make up our minds at all Cll objeccve evidence has come (110). Here James agrees with Clifford. Whenever there is no forced opcon, the dispassionately judicial intellect with no pet hypothesis ought to be our ideal (111).

11 Morality Moral quescons immediately present themselves as quescons whose solucon cannot wait for sensible proof (111) With moral accon we cannot wait Cll all the evidence is in whether the accon be good or not, or whether there is such a thing as moral goodness at all. This would lead to paralysis, which would bring about evil.

12 Personal RelaConships There are certain cases, for example starcng up a friendship, where the desire for a certain kind of truth brings about that special truth s existence (111). Here faith on my part in your liking s existence is in such cases what makes your liking come (111). General Conclusion: where faith in a fact can help create the fact, that would be an insane logic which should say that faith running ahead of sciencfic evidence is the lowest kind of immorality (111)

13 Religion James argues that if the existence of God is a live issue for a subject, then it is momentous and forced opcon. But why think it is forced? Is there not a posicon outside the opcon: Theism: Believe that God exists Atheism: Believe that God does not exist AgnosCcism: Neither believe that God exists nor that God does not exist. Suspend Judgment.

14 Why it is a Forced OpCon This of a mulcple choice exam were there are two possible answers: A or B. The correct answer is A. If you answer A you get the right answer, if you answer B, you get the wrong answer. If you don t answer the quescon, you don t fall into error, but you also don t get it right (so you get no points for that quescon). If we are interested in gehng the truth, and not just avoiding error, not making a choice (agnosccism) is the same as gehng the answer wrong.

15 Why it is a Forced OpCon God exists is True If God exists then both Atheism and AgnosCcism do not get the truth. They are the same in this respect. God does not exist is true If God does not exist then both Theism and AgnosCcism do not get the truth. They are the same in this respect.

16 AgnosCcism and Atheism If one is interested in geang the truth, and not avoiding error, then agnosccism is not a genuine posicon outside of the opcon between Theism and Atheism. We cannot escape the issue by remaining skepccal and waicng for more light, because, although we do avoid error in that way if religion be untrue, we lose the good, if it be true, just as certainly as if we posicvely chose to disbelieve (112).

17 Fear vs. Hope AgnosCcism is not avoidance of opcon: it opcon of a certain kind of risk. Be2er risk loss of truth than chance of error that is your faith- vetoer s exact posicon. He is accvely playing his stake as much as the believer is; is backing the field against the religious hypothesis; just as the believer is backing the religious hypothesis against the field. To preach skepccism to us as a duty uncl sufficient evidence for religion be found, is tantamount to telling us that to yield to our fear of its being in error is wiser and beaer than to yield to our hope that it may be true (112). Clifford s argument against belief is not intellect against passion, it one passion fear of error laying down its law against another passion, the hope for truth.

The Will To Believe by William James

The Will To Believe by William James This essay is not about why having religious beliefs is good; it s about why having religious beliefs isn t bad. That, and some cool dating advice. It s one of seven