scholarly journals TWO ASPECTS OF RELIGIOUS FAITH (FROM THE POINTS OF VIEW OF THOMAS AQUINAS AND WILLIAM JAMES)

2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
В. І. Лубський ◽  
Т. Г. Горбаченко
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Points Of View

scholarly journals THE TURN OF THE SCREW: HENRY JAMES AS AN AUTHOR AND A CRITIC

2020 ◽  
pp. 55-67
Author(s):  
M.B. Rarenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Henry James ◽  
William James ◽  
Absolute Truth ◽  
The Core ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The World ◽  
New Type ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
The Absolute

The article considers the story by Henry James (1843 – 1916) «The Turn of the Screw» (1898 – first edition, 1908 – second edition) in connection with the emergence of a new type of narrator in the writer's late prose. The worldview and creative method of H. James are formed under the influence of the philosophy of pragmatism, which became widespread at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries thanks to the works of the writer's elder brother, the philosopher William James (1842 – 1910). The core of pragmatism is the pluralistic concept of William James based on the assumption that knowledge can be realized from very limited, incomplete, and inadequate «points of view» and this leads to the statement that the absolute truth is essentially unknowable. The epistemological statements of William James's theory is that the content of knowledge is entirely determined by the installation of consciousness, and the content of the truth in this case depends on the goals and experience of the human, i.e. the central starting point is the consciousness of the person. Henry James not only creates works of art, but also sets out in detail the principles of his work both on the pages of fiction works of small and large prose, putting them in the mouths of their characters – representatives of the world of art, and in the prefaces to his works of fiction, as well as in critical works.

scholarly journals Od ateizmu do teizmu poprzez krytykę „pięciu dróg” św. Tomasza w świetle myśli Antony’ego Flewa

2020 ◽  
pp. 85-102
Author(s):  
Angelika Mrówka
Keyword(s):  
Thomas Aquinas ◽  
Constructive Criticism ◽  
Points Of View

Atheism and theism have been seen rather as contradictory points of view, without the possibility to enter into dialogue. In 1966 Antony Flew published a book entitled God  and Philosphy, a key work, in which the author criticised theism and later – the logical justifi cation of atheism. He took up a constructive criticism of the Five  Ways of St Thomas Aquinas. Flew achieved his goal, because he provoked theists to revise their views and ways of formulating theological arguments. Finally, Antony Flew considered again his own attitude and thanks to conducted debates and discussion with theists, he came to the conclusion that God exists. Antony Flew spent almost his whole life on a quest to fi nd the truth. He could be a positive example of an open-minded philosopher, because only such a person is able to contribute to an open a dialogue between atheism and theism.

scholarly journals Transformationen der Kantischen Postulatenlehre im „Cambridge Pragmatism“ (Charles S. Peirce, William James, Josiah Royce)

2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 43-75
Author(s):  
Ludwig Nagl
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
Philosophy Of Religion ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Charles Taylor ◽  
Hilary Putnam ◽  
The Will ◽  
Josiah Royce ◽  
Modern Experience

The “Cambridge pragmatists”, Charles S. Peirce, William James and Josiah Royce, are at least in two respects significantly indebted to Kant: first, as von Kempski, Apel and Murphey have shown, with regard to the epistemological issues investigated in pragmatism; secondly, with regard to the various pragmatic approaches to religion, something which has been long overlooked. These approaches are best understood as innovative re-readings of Kant’s postulates of freedom, immortality, and God. Since Hilary Putnam pointed out — in his 1992 book Renewing Philosophy — that James’s essay, “The Will to Believe”, in spite of having received a great deal of hostile criticism, is in “its logic, in fact, precise and impeccable”, James’s thoughts are considered by many contemporary philosophers (by Charles Taylor, e.g., and by Hans Joas) as particularly inspiring. James’s approach is based on the modern experience of secularism and interprets Kant’s “postulate” as the “option” to believe. A deepening of the debate on the relevance of Kant’s analysis of the horizon of religious hope with regard to human praxis for a pragmatism-inspired philosophy of religion can be expected from a detailed discussion of the thoughts of Peirce and Royce, of thoughts, which, in complex ways, relate to, as well as criticise, James’s individuum-focused interpretation of religious faith.

scholarly journals Paul Claudel, la foi et I’histoire

Literator ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-17
Author(s):  
F. Durand
Keyword(s):  
Religious Faith ◽  
Historical Events ◽  
Paul Claudel ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Superior Level ◽  
Hostile Attitude ◽  
Established Church

In this article an attempt is made to describe Paul Claudel’s attitude towards the historical events of his time, and to show how his religious faith profoundly influenced his reactions. Claudel sometimes behaves as a member of an established Church and judges a policy or a fact according to its consequences on the position of the Catholics in general and of the Clerics in particular, with a hostile attitude towards the atheists and even the Protestants. But he sometimes also interprets the events in the light of his biblical culture and, at an even superior level, by conforming himself to the spirit of the Gospels - so that his faith may sometimes inspire him with sectarian and conformist judgments, while allowing him also to take bold and original points of view.

William James and the Ethics of Belief

Philosophy ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 58 (225) ◽  
pp. 353-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.L. Doore
Keyword(s):  
William James ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Ethics Of Belief ◽  
Main Principle ◽  
Insufficient Evidence ◽  
Widespread Agreement ◽  
The Will ◽  
American Style ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
The Ethics Of Belief

There is widespread agreement among philosophers that William James's well-known attempt to justify religious faith in ‘The Will to Believe’ is a failure. But despite the fact that James wrote his essay as a reply to the ‘tough-minded’ ethics of belief represented by such thinkers as W. K. Clifford and T. H. Huxley, the reasons commonly given today for rejecting James's position seem to be mostly based on the same principle of intellectual ethics that motivated Clifford and Huxley. Clifford, it may be recalled, maintained that ‘It is wrong always, everywhere, and for everyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence’. Although this is a rather rhetorical way of stating it, the principle is basically the same one adhered to by most scientists and philosophers who consider themselves rigorous and ‘objective’ thinkers. Even philosophers not associated with the hardheaded modern Anglo-American style of empiricism commonly pledge their allegiance to such a principle. For example, Brand Blanshard (who is an epistemological idealist) holds that the ‘main principle’ of the ethics of belief is that one should ‘equate one's assent to the evidence’ and he then goes on to criticize James, on the basis of this principle, for advocating self-deception and intellectual dishonesty.

James, Clifford, and the Scientific Conscience

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Hollinger
Keyword(s):  
New England ◽  
William James ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Ethics Of Belief ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Ethics Of Belief

This chapter presents a comparative reading of W. K. Clifford's 1877 treatise, “The Ethics of Belief,” and William James' 1897 essay, “The Will to Believe.” It provides an interpretation of each in the distinctive contexts of England in the 1870s and New England in the 1890s. It argues that Clifford displayed more sensitivity than James did to the consequences of belief. This is an ironic reversal of roles in the story of a great pragmatist who insisted that “the whole defense of religious faith hinges upon” the action that faith requires or inspires. James' “The Will to Believe” should be understood not only as an artifact of its author's agony about the fate of Christianity in the age of science, but also as a product of his political complacency. Clifford had a much more modern understanding than James did of the function of belief systems in society and politics.

scholarly journals Am Ende der modernen Sicherheit: William James über religiöse Erfahrung

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-75
Author(s):  
Markus Riedenauer
Keyword(s):  
Religious Experience ◽  
Religious Belief ◽  
William James ◽  
Natural Theology ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Epistemological Foundation ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
The Will ◽  
Religiöse Erfahrung

Abstract At the End of Modern Security: William James on Religious Experience William James defends religious belief as a reasonable option against a kind of widespread agnosticism which he calls scientific absolutism, and against the dogmatism which he sees in the natural theology of his time. On the basis of his collection of essays “The Will to Believe”, the article reconstructs his arguments and the epistemological foundation of his famous treatment of religious experience in “The Varieties of Religious Experience”. James’ pragmatistic approach, which he calls radical empiricism, resists the exclusion of “mystical” experiences of conversion and redemption, and of religious faith from the realm of reasonable attitudes. Experiences of the astonishing gift of being, of trust and openness, courage and motivation to endure life’s evils can validate religious faith. In so far as modern rationality with its highest expression in the sciences is rooted in an existential quest for security, the underlying attitude towards life unnecessarily prevents personal experiences of the divine and salvation and unreasonably devaluates attitudes of faith. James defends the desiring nature of human beings and opens up the space for legitimate religious experience.

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