William James · Philosophy
James’s defence of our right to believe ahead of the evidence - when an option is <em>living, forced, and momentous</em> and cannot be settled by reason alone, refusing to decide is itself a decision, and may cost us the truth.
You learned that James answered Clifford’s rule (never believe without sufficient evidence) by arguing that for a genuine option - living, forced, and momentous - that reason cannot decide, we may lawfully let our will decide, since suspending judgment is itself a passional choice. Explain the argument in your o…
Leads to Blaise Pascal.
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