In 'The Will to Believe,' William James defends the idea that, in certain cases, it is rational to adopt a belief without prior evidence of its truth. The central essay argues that faith can be justified even in the absence of evidence, particularly in matters of religious belief. James also discusses other philosophical topics such as causality, free will, and the importance of individual action in society. The book is part of 'The Works of William James' series and includes an introduction by Edward H. Madden[2][4].
In this episode, I am joined by the podcast Producer, Josh Gilbert, for our second tutorial edition. This time, we tackle some heavy stuff - Josh opens up about his modern existential crisis of living untethered from traditional institutions, which gets us into William James' "Will to Believe" and the whole mess of making momentous decisions in a culture that's allergic to commitment. Then I get nerdy about Andreas Reckwitz's fascinating analysis of late modernity - how we've split into two warring tribes: the hyper-culture individualists seeking singular authenticity and the cultural essentialists clinging to collective identity. It's a compelling framework for understanding why we're all at each other's throats politically while the middle class gets squeezed into an hourglass shape. We also geek out over Byung-Chul Han's concept of positive violence, reminisce about U2 concerts with my son Elgin, and somehow end up discussing Rob Bell's uncanny resemblance to the lead singer of Matchbox Twenty. Oh, and we're planning a cigar expo "research retreat" in September because apparently that counts as legitimate podcast planning. Standard Tuesday afternoon philosophy with your friendly neighborhood theology nerds.
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