PHILOSOPHERS - WILLIAM JAMES

<BODY> <CENTER><FONT SIZE=5><B><FONT SIZE=6>WILLIAM JAMES</FONT><BR> (1842-1910)</B></FONT></CENTER><P> <BLOCKQUOTE>"The very meaning of the conception of God lies in those differences which must be made in our experience if the conception be true."<P> (The Will to Believe)</BLOCKQUOTE> Pragmatist philosopher and psychologist, James considered the differentiation between the mental and the material worlds artificial. Predictable outcomes of mental activity and experience were the best measures of truth.<P> Educated at Harvard and in Europe, James started his varied career in the Harvard Department of physiology. From physiology, he later moved to psychology. His two-volume "Principles of Psychology" became regarded as a classic. From psychology, he moved on to philosophy. His most controversial works were written during his years as professor of philosophy at Harvard, where he became the centre of a much-admired brilliant group of teachers and writers.<P> Although James appears to have changed disciplines, his approach to his subjects is consistent. In psychology, he adopted a "functional" approach. Our conception of mentality must be founded in what mentality does. In philosophy he was attracted to C.S. Pierce's <A HREF="../t03/g041.html" TARGET="_top">pragmatism</A>. Pierce demanded that the meaning of any concept or hypothesis lay in the "sensible difference" that its being true would make. James expanded the principle further to suggest that, if a concept can be defined by what you do with it, then truth must consist in a successful doing. An idea is not a mystery but a tool. Traditional <A HREF="../t03/g012.html" TARGET="_top">empiricism</A> had erred by focussing on origins of ideas rather than analysing them as pointers to future experience. When man confronts important questions where belief transcends evidence, the only empirical approach is to examine the effects of acceptance of a particular belief on men's lives. A particular belief should be accepted if belief has a better outcome than non-acceptance. Religion, for instance, can be justified by its tendency to organise and energise men's lives. <BR clear=left><BR> <HR width=100%> <A HREF="http://www.creatorix.com.au"><IMG SRC="../creatorix.gif" WIDTH="85" HEIGHT="40" BORDER="0" ALT="Creatorix" align=right></A> </BODY>