Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on William James/Pragmatism. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that outlines and discusses the philosophical outlook of pragmatist William James. The writer relates James' ideas to empiricism and explains what James meant by the "cash-value" of truth. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khwjprag.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
that individual if the belief was false. In short, James asked, "What...is truths cash-value in experimental terms?" As this question suggests, James was a staunch pragmatist. He not only adhered
to an empirical view of the universe and reality, but also insisted that philosophical arguments should have practical ends. James wrote, "If no practical difference whatever can be traced (from
a philosophical debate), then the alternatives mean practically the same thing, and all dispute is idle" (James, 2003). As this statement suggests, James felt that the test of any
theory or belief should be its practical consequences. This is, essentially, what James means by "cash-value." As with other philosophical theories that presume that knowledge must be based experience as
filtered through the sense, there is much to James perspective that is empiricist. James states that "Pragmatism represents a perfectly familiar attitude in philosophy, the empiricist attitude" (2003). However, James
goes beyond the realm of pure empiricism to make a place in his philosophy for the practicality of personal belief. James felt that a "block universe" n which everything was
seen as being totally governed by the laws of science was not satisfying (Frost, 1962). James wrote, "If everything, man included, is the mere effective of the primitive nebula...what becomes
of moral responsibility, freedom of action, individual effort and aspiration" (Frost, 1962, p. 50). While a pure empiricist would balk at arguments advocating something cannot be empirically defined,
such as the soul, James perceived that, for many people, belief in the existence of the soul and the possibility of the souls immortality possessed practical usefulness in humanitys moral
life (Frost, 1962). The pragmatic usefulness of this belief is something that James took into account in determining his vision of reality, which was the world of human experience. Regarding
...