Happy 180th birthday, WJ. Happy 65th, SCR.
The dance of common sense is more supple than most commentators, in and out of academia, trying to grasp what James meant when he said truth is what it is better for us to believe. But I've come to think it best to overlook the flat-footedness of some neo-pragmatists' glibness on this topic. There's far more depth and import in WJ's philosophy than is dreamt in most interpretations of his delineation of what it means for a philosophical view to "work" and successfully guide our experience.
Some of my favorite WJ quotes:
"Keep your health, your splendid health. It's worth all the truths in the firmament."--Letter to Schiller
"Our errors are surely not such awfully solemn things. In a world where we are so certain to incur them in spite of all our caution, a certain lightness of heart seems healthier than this excessive nervousness on their behalf." --Will to Believe
"The really vital question for us all is, What is this world going to be? What is life eventually to make of itself? The centre of gravity of philosophy must therefore alter its place. The earth of things, long thrown into shadow by the glories of the upper ether, must resume its rights." Pragmatism III
I try to overlook the sloppiest glosses of WJ on truth. He didn't flatly declare it to be whatever is useful for a person. Common sense dances better than that. But he'd appreciate Linda Pastan's poem. "Why not
— Phil Oliver (@OSOPHER) January 11, 2022
live each day as if it were the first," indeed. https://t.co/YO8FGQQwkq
Happy William James Day, friends.
— Jeffrey Howard 🐿️ (@Jeffrey_Howard_) January 11, 2021
The great pragmatist philosopher and father of American psychology was born on this day in 1842. Midway through a re-reading of The Varieties of Religious Experience, I will also spend some time with his letters today.
A hagiographic thread. pic.twitter.com/DYmxSzOSbU
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