The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy

What It's About

This collection brings together ten essays and lectures that William James wrote for both academic and general audiences. They share a common concern: how should a person think and live when the evidence cannot settle the biggest questions? The title essay argues that when a choice is genuine, unavoidable and important, and the facts cannot decide it, we are entitled to let our wider nature, including hope and conviction, tip the balance. Around it sit essays on whether life is worth living, the roots of philosophical and religious belief, free will and determinism, the foundations of ethics, the role of great individuals in history, a critique of Hegelian thought, and a sympathetic assessment of psychical research.

The title essay has always been contested. It was written partly in answer to W. K. Clifford's insistence that it is wrong to believe anything on insufficient evidence. Critics have argued that James's position opens the door to wishful thinking, and James himself later said he might have called it "the right to believe" to head off that reading.

Key Concepts

James distinguishes between "live" and "dead," "forced" and "avoidable," and "momentous" and "trivial" options, and argues that religious faith can be a genuine option of the first kind. Other recurring ideas include the "passional nature" that shapes our beliefs alongside reason, the case for indeterminism and moral responsibility, the view that ethical ideals arise from the demands of living beings, and the claim that social change owes much to the spontaneous contributions of individuals. Together these essays are a clear statement of the pragmatic, experience-centred outlook that made James influential.

About the Author

William James (1842–1910) was an American philosopher and psychologist who taught at Harvard. Trained first in medicine, he became one of the founders of modern psychology and a leading voice of pragmatism. He was known for writing about difficult ideas in a vivid, direct style. He was the brother of the novelist Henry James.