Quotes · Quote card
Quotation from Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James
“On pragmatistic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true.”
Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking, Lecture VIII (Project Gutenberg text)
James distinguishes the theistic God from the Absolute and states the pragmatic test for religious belief.
Citation: "On pragmatistic principles, if the hypothesis of God works satisfactorily in the widest sense of the word, it is true." — William James, Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking, Lecture VIII (Project Gutenberg text). (id james-pragmatism-q8)
Portrait: William James by Alice M. Boughton, c. 1907, platinum print, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 87 37James-000001 (cropped), Alice Boughton, Public domain.
