William James Flashcards
What is a forced option?
An option in which you cannot choose to not participate. For example, be religious or don’t be.
What is an avoidable option?
An option in which you can choose not to pass judgment. For example, you can not answer the question, “do you think Christianity is reasonable?”
What is a momentous option?
An option that hardly comes around, hard to pass up cause it may happen only once. For example, someone asks if you want to go to the North Pole.
What is a trivial option?
An option that is very indecisive of the future. For example, do you want another snack?
What is the difference between dead or alive hypotheses?
A live hypotheses has the chance of sparking a response or belief from you. A dead one does not have this possibility.
If someone says, “I am Buddha,” is this a live or dead hypothesis to a Christian?
Dead
Explain empiricism vs. pragmatism.
Empiricism- the theory that all knowledge comes from the senses.
Pragmatism- Approaches the truth of theories through practical application.
True or False: William James says that you have the will to believe, for religion is a forced option.
True
What is absolutism, as defined by Clifford?
Accepting a hypothesis only because there is absolute certainty to back it up (decisive evidence).
