(March 27, 2015 at 11:26 pm)Nestor Wrote: ... Anyway, you can definitely see William James' sympathetic attitudes towards the mystical experience as he devoted a phenomenal lecture series to it that was shortly afterwards published in 1902 as "The Varieties of Religious Experience."
I have much respect for James' approach to theism though I don't find much appeal in it for myself.
I have no respect for James' approach to theism. He was quite happy telling people to have faith and believe bullshit if they wanted to. His famous essay "The Will to Believe" deals with this. You can read it, as well as the sort of thing to which it is a response (Clifford's essay at link), as well why James' thinking on this is crap (Burger's essay at link), at:
http://ajburger.homestead.com/files/book.htm
James is not only wrong, but following his advice is a danger to society. One might murder someone from following his advice. Read the above to see why, though it should be obvious enough from the fact that religions are frequently advocating the murder of infidels and such.
Given that "The Will to Believe" is one of his most popular essays, I think the world would be a better place if William James had never been born.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
