Practical considerations and evidence in James's permission to believe
Philosophers often read The will to believe' as defending the substitution of non-epistemic reasons for inadequate epistemic reasons. I contend that a more charitable reading of James's argument is to understand him as proposing a contextualist account of the kind of evidence needed for r...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Cambridge Univ. Press
[2015]
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| In: |
Religious studies
Year: 2015, Volume: 51, Issue: 1, Pages: 21-39 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
The will to believe, and other essays in popular philosophy
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| IxTheo Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism VB Hermeneutics; Philosophy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | Philosophers often read The will to believe' as defending the substitution of non-epistemic reasons for inadequate epistemic reasons. I contend that a more charitable reading of James's argument is to understand him as proposing a contextualist account of the kind of evidence needed for responsible believing. On my reading, James claims that evidential support that might be insufficient in a purely theoretical context may be good enough when there is a pressing need to decide on a course of action. |
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| ISSN: | 1469-901X |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religious studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1017/S0034412514000195 |