William James and Free Will

William James

an American philosopher, psychologist, and medical doctor, was one of the leaders of Pragmatism

indeterminate, or pluralistic, as he called it.He meant that there are genuine possibilities and that we therefore have freewill to change the future.

He believed that the universe was

certain amount of imprecision that produces novel shapes and formations

There is lumpiness and messiness

our regrets make sense, and the future is open to new possibilities

in an undetermined world, things might have been otherwise, so

the one and only one past and the one and only future.

The part we call the present is compatible with only one totality

is right since facts are always actualities

Crucially, James argues that no fact can prove which of these positions (regarding the relationship of possibilities and actualities)

Soft Determinism

holds that although the whole universe is deterministic, there is some sense in which our choices and actions may be regarded as free since they are part of our inner life, and we have some control over it.

It is therefore our passional nature (our emotional nature) that must decide.

According to James, there is no rational, evidential solution to the problem of metaphysical freewill.

such as whether there is a God or afterlife, or in this case, whether you truly have free will.

 

Live hypotheses are important

then we must be pluralists about possible worlds. “The great point is that possibilities are really here.”

 

If we are going to be serious about how we actually live our lives

Subjective Satisfaction & Rational Stance

James concluded that there are then two criteria that force us to choose indeterminism:

 

Subjective Satisfaction

Indeterminism is the only position that supports the way we live.

Rational Stance

Since there are no facts or actualities that conclusively prove determinism, then we should believe the world is undetermined and there are genuine possibilities. We live in what he calls a Pluralistic Universe.

Personal Improvement

we are trying to learn from our mistakes and improve ourselves in the future. This might make no sense in a determined world, and it might be grounds for pessimism or apathy.

Social Improvement

as a society we work to improve ourselves collectively. We believe that we make progress. Again, if we are deluded, then we have no reason to believe in progress.

Religion

it is important in many religions that our choices matter, for our well-being in this world or our salvation in the next.

Morality

we believe that those who commit crimes must be held responsible. This is the basis for justice. If no one is truly responsible the way we customarily think, then our justice system is a sham.

passional nature’s judgment as to which hypothesis renders the universe more rational that determines our stance on this matter.

 

according to James, it is not facts but our

conforms to our lived experience.

Indeterminism (James’ version) – that the future is not determined. We cannot prove it with facts, but it

Pluralistic Universe

one that is open to genuinely new possibilities. There may have been onepast, but it could have been otherwise, and, more importantly, there are many possible futures.

Pragmatism

American philosophical movement that stressed the notion that any worthwhile philosophy must explain or conform to our lived experience of the world and not be based solely on abstractions.

Chance

for the determinist there is no such thing. It is simply our ignorance of the causes of events. For the indeterminist, it is real, though there is still ignorance of causes. But the varyingcauses are genuinely possible causes and the effects often genuinely unpredictable.

Subjective Satisfaction

is the criterion that must be considered in evaluating any philosophy that cannot be based on facts, such as determinism.