William James on the Courage to Believe / Robert J. O'Connell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Connell, Robert J., Author.

, NEH/Mellon Humanities Open Book Grant, Author.

Series:

American philosophy series.

American Philosophy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

James, William, 1842-1910. Will to believe.

James, William.

Philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 223 pages).

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

LaVergne : Fordham University Press, 2018.

New York, NY : Fordham University Press, [2019]

Language Note:

In English.

Biography/History:

O'Connell Robert J. : Robert J. O'Connell, S.J., was Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University.Robert J. O'Connell, S.J., was Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University.

Summary:

William James’ 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’ 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 weighing of the evidence for belief.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

1. The Argument of "The Will to Believe"

2. On Matter and Manner

3. James and Pascal

4. Is It "Wishful Thinking"?

5. Outcomes and Over-beliefs

6. The Precursive Force of Over-beliefs

7. The Strata of the Passional

8. The Metaphors of Belief

Epilogue: On Becoming Humanly Wise

Appendix A: "The Will to Believe" and James's "Deontological Streak"

Appendix B: Faith and Facts in James's "Will to Believe"

Appendix C: James's Voluntarism: Readiness, Willingness, or Will to Believe?

Index

Notes:

Title from eBook information screen..

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 https://www.degruyter.com/dg/page/open-access-policy

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Jul 2020)

ISBN:

0-8232-8521-9

OCLC:

1101901948