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Full Idea
On pragmatistic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true.
Gist of Idea
If the God hypothesis works well, then it is true
Source
William James (Pragmatism - eight lectures [1907], Lec 8)
Book Ref
James,William: 'Pragmatism - eight lectures' [Dover 1995], p.115
A Reaction
The truth of God's existence certainly is a challenging test case for the pragmatic theory of truth, and James really bites the bullet here. Pragmatism may ultimately founder on the impossibility of specifying what 'works satisfactorily' means.
| 16165 | For Aristotle God is defined in an axiom, for which there is no proof [Aristotle, by Frede,M] |
| 22734 | God is defended by agreement, order, absurdity of denying God, and refutations [Sext.Empiricus] |
| 12565 | God has given us no innate idea of himself [Locke] |
| 19328 | Without the principle of sufficient reason, God's existence could not be demonstrated [Leibniz] |
| 3950 | There must be a God, because all sensible things must be perceived by him [Berkeley] |
| 3951 | There must be a God, because I and my ideas are not independent [Berkeley] |
| 6957 | The objects of theological reasoning are too big for our minds [Hume] |
| 5607 | Only three proofs of God: the physico-theological (evidence), the cosmological (existence), the ontological (a priori) [Kant] |
| 21775 | The God of revealed religion can only be understood through pure speculative knowledge [Hegel] |
| 18991 | If the God hypothesis works well, then it is true [James] |
| 24192 | My love makes me believe in God; the inconceivability of this God makes me disbelieve [Weil] |
| 20694 | 'Natural theology' aims to prove God to anyone (not just believers) by reason or argument [Davies,B] |