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Title: The Will to Believe, Human Immortality by William James ISBN: 0-486-20291-7 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1956 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.71 (7 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Important reading in the Philosophy of Religion
Comment: I can't help but think that the two reviewers from Los Angeles have got it wrong. Their claim seems to be that James allows us to believe whatever we desire despite evidence to the contrary. This couldn't be more wrong. One of James' central ideas is that the rational elements of man can only take him so far, that they can't answer all of life's questions, but this is not to say that we ought to do away with rationality. James argues that we have the "right" to make certain decisions (ones that are not answerable by reason alone) on passional grounds (given certain criteria that he goes into in more detail than I can here). In other words, we're using reason as an important guide before taking a non-rational or passional leap. It is important to understand that this is not restricted to matters of religion and in this regard a bit of an example might be helpful: Is it appropriate to wait for incontrovertible proof that someone loves you before you act to extend yourself and love them in return? Of course not, and I think this is the type of thing James is getting at. So, to conclude, I think this is a truly inspiring read and that James would be as critical of adopting beliefs that have little or no rational basis as our previously mentioned reviewers. But hey, maybe I'm wrong too.
Rating: 1
Summary: Want to be told it's okay to believe whatever you want?
Comment: Then look no further, you have found what you want (with a few trivial restrictions). James doesn't think you need to bother with things like evidence; as long as it is a "genuine option that cannot by its nature be decided on intellectual grounds", believe what you want!
What does it take to be a genuine option? Not much; James defines an hypothesis as "anything that may be proposed to our belief; and just as the electricians speak of live and dead wires, let us speak of any hypothesis as either live or dead. A live hypothesis is one which appeals as a real possibility to him to whom it is proposed."
He continues: "Next, let us call the decision between two hypotheses an option. Options may be of several kinds. They may be-1, living or dead; 2, forced or avoidable; 3, momentous or trivial; and for our purposes we may call an option a genuine option when it is of the forced, living, and momentous kind."
His thesis in his words:
"The thesis I defend is, briefly stated, this: Our passional nature not only lawfully may, but must, decide an option between propositions, whenever it is a genuine option that cannot by its nature be decided on intellectual grounds; for to say, under such circumstances, "Do not decide, but leave the question open," is itself a passional decision,-just like deciding yes or no,-and is attended with the same risk of losing the truth."
To be "living", all it takes is for you to be willing to think it possible, which will apply to just about anything you want to believe. To be "forced", just oppose it to rejecting what you want to believe (because you are "forced" to either believe what you want or you will not believe it; there is no other alternative). To be "momentous", it has to be important to you, which will apply to everything that really matters to you that you want to believe. Now, all you have to do is pick something for which you can have no evidence, and then you can believe it, according to James. So he is telling you, practically, believe whatever you want to believe, as long as it is beyond the reach of any evidence.
It should be no surprise that many people would welcome such garbage, since James appears to justify believing what you want. The trouble is, people believing what they want and ignoring evidence and reason has led to crusades, witch burning, the Inquisition, etc. (After all, what test can you have to determine whether or not God wants you to expel the 'infidels' from the 'holy land', or whether someone is a 'witch' or not, or whether someone is a 'heretic'? You'll never believe any such stuff if you base all of your beliefs upon evidence, and consequently you will not be as much of a danger to society.) Of course, James wrote after many of those activities, so we cannot blame him for what others did before he wrote his essay. However, following his advice, one could do all of the above. We can blame him for that.
James is very good at making people feel comfortable with their current prejudices, and for that, many praise him.
A rather basic demonstration of one of the problems of following James comes up as soon as one asks which set of beliefs one wants to believe. Should you be a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu, a Buddhist, a Moslem, an agnostic, an atheist, or something else? Well, James is absolutely no help in finding out which of these might be true; he basically tells you to believe whichever one you want. Such advice is useless for discovering the truth about such important matters; he is telling everyone to just go along with whatever prejudices they prefer. And if your preferred prejudice leads to the torture and killing of 'infidels', well, James has nothing to say about that. He tells you to believe at your own risk what you will, but ignores the rather obvious risks to others. It is difficult to imagine a worse essay than "The Will to Believe".
If someone tries to defend James by claiming that you need to understand James' "pragmatism" to understand "The Will to Believe", you should realize that pragmatism is not mentioned in this essay, which was first given as a lecture, and is the first essay in the book THE WILL TO BELIEVE AND OTHER ESSAYS IN POPULAR PHILOSOPHY. James developed those ideas later (PRAGMATISM came out many years later). Furthermore, James mentions in "What Pragmatism Means" (in PRAGMATISM) that no one knew what pragmatism was at the time when "The Will to Believe" came out (he does not mention the essay by name; you have to compare the dates he mentions with the date of this essay). So James did not require an understanding of pragmatism to understand this essay.
There have been several books that have exposed James, but they have generally been expensive academic books that go out of print in no time at all, after practically no one has read them. James is around because he is easy to read, in an inexpensive edition, and tells people what they want to hear.
If you want to think, and if you really want to find out the truth about things rather than engage in wishful thinking, James gives extremely poor advice. The three-part essay "The Ethics of Belief" by William Kingdon Clifford is far better (it is often reprinted in philosophy anthologies in a severely edited form). But since Clifford advises people to think rather than simply believe what they want to believe, he is far less popular. I believe it was Bertrand Russell who said: "Many people would sooner die than think. In fact they do." Unfortunately, Russell was right about this. The popularity of James and the relative obscurity of Clifford is a rather telling proof of this.
Rating: 4
Summary: Great reading . James is one of a kind.
Comment: Philosophers are notorious for not feeling a work worthy of attention unless it is poorly written and arcane. Karl Popper was ignored, so was George Santayana, so was Arthur Schopenhaur. In the world of philosophy, it doesn't so much matter what you say- If it did, Wittgenstein and Hegel wouldv'e been dismissed out of hand- but how poorly you say it. This collection of essays, while garnering more attention than the above authors, might've been taken more seriously if it wasn't so easy and fun to read.
In these essays we find a man who is what the philosopher should be. His ideas describe the way we think and act instead of conceptualize the way we 'should' think or act. The first few essays are on religion, the validity of which James does not confirm nor deny. Simply put, James sees religion as a handy tool for action. God makes the world more manageable. It synthesizes a world that appears random, it explains- however truthfully- a world than seems in need of explanation. James, I believe, is an agnostic in the truest sense. Experience can confirm or deny God and as long as one is open to experiential evidence, the pendulum can concievably swing either way.
The next essays give a basic outline of what would later be pragmatism. Ideas, James conjectures, are tools for action. We not only act because we think, but think exclusively because we act. The essays here are a bit repetitive, but James' prose is so crystal-clear that you'll want to keep reading.
Finally, we come to the last two essays that deal with 'mysticism' and the 'supernatural' phenomena that psychologists, philosophers, and scientists would rather not even consider. Both the believer and sceptic will find use in these essays as they dismiss both the scientists snap-denial of 'psychic' phenomenon and the believer's untested belief. Neither party, it seems to James, wants to examine evidence and come to a responsible conclusion, what ever that conclusion is.
James has been admired, chastised, name-called, idolized and scrutinized for his unbridled agnosticism. Whether you come to admire or discard James' unique thoughts about thoughts, these essays are clearly written, accessable, erudite and witty. If you're not a philosopher, read this. If you are one, read it but don't tell anyone you did so!
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Title: VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE by William James ISBN: 0684842971 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 April, 1997 List Price(USD): $8.00 |
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Title: Pragmatism by William James ISBN: 0486282708 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 02 June, 1995 List Price(USD): $2.00 |
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Title: The Meaning of Truth (Great Books in Philosophy) by William James ISBN: 1573921386 Publisher: Prometheus Books Pub. Date: May, 1997 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Principles of Psychology (Volume 1) by William James ISBN: 0486203816 Publisher: Dover Pubns Pub. Date: 01 June, 1950 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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Title: The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature, Centenary Edition by William James ISBN: 0415278090 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: October, 2002 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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