Chapter 5: Truth and consequences by John Kaag
By Nyagoa Tut
The aim of the author (John Kaag) of the Sick Souls Healthy Minds is to answer the profound question that most of us have asked as we journey through life using William James pragmatic methods. Is life worth living or is your life worth living for? Chapter 5 talks about finding or creating one's own truth that will be useful to he/she as they live life. I like how Kaag defined pragmatism when he said, "Pragmatism is not a means of escape. When I suggest that William James’s philosophy might save a life, I’m not suggesting that he will rescue you from it. In my experience, on good days, it can return one refreshed and undaunted. “Be not afraid of life,” James reminds us (Kaag 80)." Kang also said that William James sometimes called pragmatism a hallway that leads to a number of distinct doors: they are unlocked, but you get to pick which ones you wish to open. It is a method, not a destination—a way, not an end point (Kaag 80). I really like that definition because it gives us a glim of pragmatism method.
A video from YouTube Titled "Pragmatist theory of Truth" explains the concept of an idea becoming true by verification as well. It says that James started to form the pragmatic theory of truth by giving out his definition of true ideas. He said, "True ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate and verify. False ideas are those we cannot." For example, if I believe that a certain bug is harmless but if it bites me and I become ill, then my belief isn't verified. It's rather falsified. It also emphases that something/idea is not true before it's verified, rather it's verified first then it becomes true. This makes the pragmatic view of truth to be oppose by those that believe something is true before it's even verified and the fact that it can be verified only confirmed its truthfulness (https://youtu.be/JezRtDMg1sI?si=2zkd-izQm12MR1SA). Basically, whatever idea I hold down to in order to get me through life, I must test it to see its outcome and if it agrees with reality and is useful to me then it's true.
Kaag also asserted that, "James was interested in “the truth” only to the extent that the modest certainties that we live by might lead to the improvement of our not-so-easy-to-endure condition (Kaag 88)." I like this text because it summarizes the pragmatic theory of truth when it says whatever works or useful. Another video title "Epistemology of Pragmatism: Truth is what Works; NO SPECTATOR! - Dewey and James (Part 1 of 2) says that we have to look to our experiences to determine which beliefs or ideas have helped us to endure through life (https://youtu.be/-9N6FPdlVQI?si=Z6LtQP2G1AQyHScu). I think this idea points back to the fact that William James was only interested in the truth that may aide us to get through hard times in life. so, I understood that once we have created some true ideas that might guide us through hard conditions then we should keep those ideas.
Questions:
would our ideas be always right because they're useful to us?
How could the pragmatic view of truth help us live?
This is a bit too brief, there's more square footage of illustration than text.
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"would our ideas be always right because they're useful to us? "-- No real pragmatist would say so, without adding "useful for us ALL, and in the LONG run..."
Thank you for the feedback. I hope I've tried afterwards.
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