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Thread about William James' (WJ) The Will to Believe (TWTB):
WJ's ultimate goal in TWTB is to recommend faith in God. He is never so explicit as that, but that is the subtext.
WJ's ultimate goal in TWTB is to recommend faith in God. He is never so explicit as that, but that is the subtext.
WJ has a particular conception of God in mind: a God that is not simply false on "intellectual grounds". WJ says, "the freedom to believe can only cover living options which the intellect of the individual cannot by itself resolve" (29).
In other words, an intellectually irresolvable option is one that cannot be decided by evidence or reason. So, WJ's conception of God is one that doesn't fly in the face of evidence and reason. For example, the young Earth creationist God flies in the face of evidence and reason.
The entry-point to TWTB is acknowledging that there are no "intellectual grounds" to settle the question between such a God beyond (and/or comprising) this world and nothing beyond this world. This is the place where we all stand and where we have the freedom to believe.
As I said, although he presents it as an irresolvable option, he still recommends faith ultimately. There are two parts to this argument - a negative and a positive case.
WJ's negative case critiques the arguments of prominent skeptics/atheists like William Kingdon Clifford and concludes that the criticisms of such skeptics (of the faithful) lead to absurdity.
His positive case is more speculative, but it can be summarized: you are free, the options are equal and there is no reason to "put a stopper on our heart" and deny yourself the opportunity to have the most momentous relationship imaginable in this life.
There is a lot more to say about his positive case. Briefly, he throws a number of ideas out there and I don't think he pins his case on any of them in particular but hopes that some will stick and the aggregate effect should be enough to move your willing nature.
