1. James on the right to believe ~ slide 1 William James - the right to believe zWilliam James (United States, 1842-1910)  Degree in medicine from Harvard  1865-66 - accompanies Louis Agassiz on a scientific expedition to Brazil  1872 - instructor in physiology at Harvard  1875 - begins teaching psychology at Harvard

2. James on the right to believe ~ slide 2 zWilliam James zin Brazil zJune 1865

3. James on the right to believe ~ slide 3 William James - the right to believe  1879 - teaches philosophy at Harvard yOne of the co-founders of pragmatism, together with Charles Saunders Peirce & John Dewey

4. James on the right to believe ~ slide 4 zWilliam James zca. 1885

5. James on the right to believe ~ slide 5 zHenry & William James zin England, 1901 zon the occasion of William James’ Gifford Lectures

6. James on the right to believe ~ slide 6 William James - the right to believe z“The Will to Believe” (1896)  Thesis: It is rational to believe in religious claims even though empirical & logical evidence is not compelling. We do not have a right to believe in all matters in which empirical & logical evidence is not compelling. We only have this right in some areas of knowledge.

7. James on the right to believe ~ slide 7 William James - the right to believe  The importance of will in building knowledge; established via a critique of Pascal & Clifford yPascal -- the wager has no bite without a predisposition to believe äConclusion: Our will influences our convictions very much. Pure reason never settles matters.

8. James on the right to believe ~ slide 8 William James - the right to believe yClifford -- emphasizes the avoidance of error above all. But this results in often losing the truth; it risks closing off certain realms of knowledge & experience. Importance of will in this.  Areas where one is justified in going beyond compelling evidence & logic y(1) morals

9. James on the right to believe ~ slide 9 William James - the right to believe y(2) personal relations y(3) religious faith  In all of these areas, faith in the fact may help create the fact

10. James on the right to believe ~ slide 10 William James - the right to believe  Another set of restrictions (second) in which making acts of the will (faith) which go beyond knowledge & evidence yThe situation must present an option which is ä(1) living ä(2) forced ä(3) momentous

11. James on the right to believe ~ slide 11 William James - the right to believe äScientific options usually does not meet these three conditions.  Under these two sets of conditions, one is justified in exercising an act of faith, in the sense of making an act of the will which goes beyond logic & evidence. yIn religious faith, extending one’s self may unveil knowledge which otherwise would have remained hidden.

12. James on the right to believe ~ slide 12 William James - the right to believe zCritical comments  Is James arguing that in religious faith, one is justified in going beyond all evidence & logic?  Is James arguing that we can create facts?