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.
William James on the Courage to Believe is available from the publisher on an open-access basis.
Price: $39.00
Pages: 223
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Imprint: Fordham University Press
Series: American Philosophy
Publication Date:
01 January 1997
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780823217281
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
PHILOSOPHY / Religious
“A thorough and sympathetic analysis of James’ lecture on “The Will to Believe,” a lecture which-once read-”does not admit of being easily left aside.” O’Connell takes on those critics who have reckless “wishful thinking.” Central to O’Connell’s approach is his very helpful treatment of the “passional side of human nature” and the role it plays in James’ epistemology. It is not merely an element to be brought in when the intellect has reached an impasse. A valuable and important book”
Robert J. O’Connell, S. J. was a Professor of Philosophy at Fordham University. His has five publications on St. Augustine, as well as several studies of Plato, William James, and Teilhard de Chardin. In 2015 he established the O’Connell established the O’Connell Initiative at Fordham, a forum for intellectual exploration, that brought together scholars of every aspect of capitalism.
