more from this thinker | more from this text
Full Idea
Truth is one species of good, and not, as is usually supposed, a category distinct from good, and co-ordinate with it. The true is whatever proves itself to be good in the way of belief, and good, too, for definite, assignable reasons.
Gist of Idea
Truth is a species of good, being whatever proves itself good in the way of belief
Source
William James (Pragmatism - eight lectures [1907], Lec 2)
Book Ref
James,William: 'Pragmatism - eight lectures' [Dover 1995], p.30
A Reaction
The trouble is that false optimism can often often be what is 'good in the way of belief'. That said, I think quite a good way to specify 'truth' is 'success in belief', but I mean intrinsically successful, not pragmatically successful.
| 4421 | Philosophers have never asked why there is a will to truth in the first place [Nietzsche] |
| 18974 | Truth is a species of good, being whatever proves itself good in the way of belief [James] |
| 19569 | We have a basic epistemic duty to believe truth and avoid error [Chisholm, by Kvanvig] |
| 20222 | Knowledge either aims at a quantity of truths, or a quality of understanding of truths [Zagzebski] |
| 19568 | Making sense of things, or finding a good theory, are non-truth-related cognitive successes [Kvanvig] |