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The religious option is a genuine option
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
Extract
In ‘The Will to Believe’, the religious hypothesis for William James says, first, ‘that the best things are the more eternal things’, and second, ‘that we are better off now if we believe her first affirmation to be true’ (p.26) He later qualifies the first affirmation: ‘The more perfect and more eternal aspect of the universe is represented in our religions as having personal form’ (p.27).
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References
page 505 note 1 Unless otherwise noted, all references to James', works are to The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (New York: Dover, 1956).Google Scholar
page 506 note 1 Mavrodes, George, ‘James and Clifford on “The Will to Believe”,’ The Personalist XLIV (1963). Reprinted in Keith Yandel, God, Man and Religion (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973). All citations in the text are to the latter volume.Google Scholar
page 512 note 1 From ‘Philosophical Conceptions and Practical Results’, reprinted in Alston, W. P. and Nakhnikian, George, Readings in Twentieth-Century Philosophy (New York: The Free Press, 1963). The quoted passage is from p. 14 of the latter volume.Google Scholar
page 513 note 1 Phillips seems to think that religious belief is regulative and therefore is not propositional. My own view is that religious belief is both regulative and propositional.
page 513 note 2 Phillips, D. Z., ‘Religious Beliefs and Language Games’, Ratio xii (1970). Reprinted in Mitchell, Basil, ed., The Philosophy of Religion (London: Oxford University Press, 1971). The quotations are from pp. 129 and 130 of the latter.Google Scholar
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