W. James. The dependence of faith on will and other experiments in popular philosophy

The book contains 10 articles; of which the first four are “Dependence of Faith on Will”, “Is Life Worth Living?” "The Sense of Rationality" and "Reflex Acts and Theism" are devoted primarily to defending the legitimacy of religious faith. In the first article, which gives the title to the entire book, the author proceeds from the observation that our beliefs are actually generated not only by analysis and logic, no matter how powerful both may be in theory, but first of all by emotional aspirations and desires, of which some precede faith, while others follow it, and the latter, although they turn out to be belated, are not superfluous if the previous emotional work was carried out in the direction corresponding to them. The thesis defended by the author is briefly expressed by him in the following words: “Our emotional nature not only has the legal right, but must also decide a choice between two proposals, each time this choice is true (i.e., relates to a living, necessary and important issue) and by its nature is inaccessible to decision on intellectual grounds.” The negative justification for this thesis is given in the fact that to refuse to resolve the issue under such conditions would be the same emotional decision as if we were inclined to side with yes or no, and, moreover, a decision associated with the same risk of being mistaken. The positive justification of faith is indicated by the author in the fact that belief in a fact can contribute to the emergence of the latter. He illustrates this point with examples from everyday life. “For example, take the question: do you love me or not? This depends in countless cases on whether I meet you halfway, whether I am inclined to assume that you love me, whether I expect this, whether I show confidence in you. In such cases, it is the preliminary belief in the existence of your love that causes the latter. But if I stand far away from you, refusing to move even an inch before your affection becomes objectively obvious to me, I bet that you will never develop any affection for me. How many times has a man won the heart of a woman, passionately assuring her that she should love him! In this case, the thirst for a known truth calls the latter into existence; the same thing happens in countless other cases... Any social organism maintains its organization because each member performs his duty in the hope that other members will do the same. Whenever any desired result is achieved through the cooperation of many individuals, it is a simple consequence of the prior faith in each other of all those involved. A government, an army, a commercial enterprise, a ship, a college, an athletic competition - all this exists only under the condition of faith, without which not only nothing has ever been accomplished, but nothing has ever been attempted... Faith, then, based on desire, is a legitimate, and perhaps inevitable, means for achieving truth, since this achievement depends on our personal participation. From the point of view of these data, the author evaluates religious faith itself: it gives the believer real internal good. Неверующий и верующий не имеют права ставить veto один другому, не следует им также обмениваться обидными словами. On the contrary, each of us must carefully and deeply respect the freedom of the other. “What do you think about yourself? what do you think about the world? - these are the questions that everyone solves in their own way. Whatever choice we make, we make it at our own peril. Мы стоим в горном проходе, среди снегов и вихрей, окутанные туманом, сквозь который иногда открывается вид на тропинки, быть может, ненадежные. If we stand still, we risk freezing; if we choose the wrong path, we may fall to our death; We don’t even know for sure whether there is a true path? What should we do? Don't lose your spirit! Act, hoping that everything is for the better, and then, come what may! If the end of everything is death, then it is impossible to face death better!” Мы должны принять, что это речь эмпириста – думающего, что есть истина и что человек может обрести ее, но не может он безошибочно знать, что она действительно достигнута им. To know and to know for certain that we know are two different things. We must further remember that this speech was addressed not to believers, but to an audience consisting of listeners of higher educational institutions: “paralysis of the natural faculty of faith and fearful abulia in the field of religion - this is a form of intellectual weakness characteristic of such listeners, generated by the diligently instilled in them the idea that there is scientific evidence that can save them from the danger of being wrecked in their search for the truth.” Such listeners and readers will find much to learn in this speech. Believers have nothing to look for here. However, it is also interesting for them to see what can be said in favor of faith from an empirical point of view. The rest of the articles have the same interest and the same significance, of which the second ends with the words: “don’t be afraid of life, believe that life is worth living and thanks to your faith it will really be so,” - the third comes down to the position: “the highest good can be achieved only if we live a life that suits us, and the latter is possible only with the help of moral energy generated by faith,” and the fourth develops the idea that “a worldview without God is not rational, a worldview that strives It is impossible to surpass God." Among the other articles, the most interesting ones are “Determinism and its Dilemma,” “The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life,” “Great Men and Environment,” and “The Significance of Individuals.” The translation of the said book by James belongs to S.I. Tsereteli and was executed conscientiously and gracefully. You might be interested in: