John Hick offers a summary account of William James's ‘The Will to Believe’ which is typical of the way that this essay has been understood by many in the one hundred years since it was first published. According to Hick, James argues -/- that the existence or nonexistence of God, of which there can be no conclusive evidence either way, is a matter of such momentous importance that anyone who so desires has the right to stake one's life upon the (...) God hypothesis. (shrink)

Camus and James are not often thought to have much in common. But both agree that “Is life worth living?” is a fundamentalphilosophical question, and an examination of the views of each as to what constitutes a life that is worth living reveals strikingsimilarities. Although James freely uses the language of religion which Camus adamantly avoids, they agree that a life worth livingis marked by a sense of intimacy and communion with others and with the world itself—and by a resolve (...) to fight against the evilsthat threaten well-being. (shrink)

Camus and James are not often thought to have much in common. But both agree that “Is life worth living?” is a fundamentalphilosophical question, and an examination of the views of each as to what constitutes a life that is worth living reveals strikingsimilarities. Although James freely uses the language of religion which Camus adamantly avoids, they agree that a life worth livingis marked by a sense of intimacy and communion with others and with the world itself—and by a resolve (...) to fight against the evilsthat threaten well-being. (shrink)

In 'The Divided Self of William James', Richard Gale contends that throughout James's work there is a clash between his Promethean self (with its emphasis on pragmatic, morally strenuous, melioristic activity) and his mystical self (with its passive, quietest, I-Thou quest for intimacy). Part of the case that Gale develops rests on his analysis of what he identifies as "James's most distinctive and influential doctrine," the will to believe. I argue that Gale's interpretation of the "will to believe" is problematic (...) and that a more adequate account of this doctrine allows us to recognize that James's quest for intimacy and his emphasis on moral endeavor are complementary rather than in conflict. (shrink)