ABOUT THE NEXT DISCUSSION:
On January 1, 2013, at 1PM EST, noon CST, 11AM MST and 10AM PST I will start the discussion diary. The William James book discussion group starts with the 1892 essay, “The Will to Believe”. I’m going to post a reminder almost once a week, giving information about William James and his work so that everyone with an interest has a chance to get into the discussion.
After covering this short essay, we’ll poll the participants to decide whether to do another essay or to move on to one of his book length masterpieces, “The Variety of Religious Experience” and “Pragmatism”. The seeds of the two books are contained in “The Will to Believe”.
Text:
Wikipedia entry:
Participants will bring their own priorities and interests to the discussion. My intent is to deepen understanding of William James’ ideas because I see them as invaluable tools for understanding and coping with the world around us.
In form, I will start the ball rolling by making a series of comments. Thoughts related to an existing comment should be attached by “reply”. New ideas for discussion should be independent comments.
Two of my comments will include links to the 1878 Charles Peirce article, “How to Make our Ideas Clear”, which was the Genesis of Jamesian Pragmatism and the 1879 William Clifford essay, “The Ethics of Belief”, which James was rebutting.
Clifford wrote, “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.”
James wrote, “Objective evidence and certitude are doubtless very fine ideals to play with, but where on this moonlit and dream-visited planet are they found?”