William James, The Will to Believe Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

entrustiam James, The Will to Believe - Essay ExampleJames begins his speech by comparing possible reactions to one guessing over another. He uses the scientific term of shot to make a point that that anything which a earthly concern strives to prove is, after all, a hypothesis which can never really be proven. Choices as to which hypothesis will be chosen are referred to as an option. According to James there are trio types of options it is either living or dead, forced or avoidable, momentous or trivial. Which option is chosen depends upon who it is cosmos proposed to. A live option is one which must make some kind of appeal to personalized appeal. A forced option is one in which the chooser must make a selection as opposed to avoiding the circumstance altogether. A momentous option is one which presents a unique opportunity which has the potential to be life-changing.James states that some beliefs are just that they are faith-based and they are reckond regardless of scien tific fact or evidence. His examples, such as that of whether or not we believe that pictures of Abraham Lincoln prove his origination or that we are sick when lying abed stricken with rheumatism, point to the finding that most of what we believe is, after all, really subjective.