Hi Marsha, If you read A Pluralistic Universe carefully, you will find that free will derives from pluralism, whereas determinism derives from monism. I cannot point to pages since I have the free kindle version.
I am not sure if this answers your question. Cheers, Mark On Tue, Jun 28, 2011 at 1:47 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: > > Dmb, > > Does James's definition of free will conform to the the standard dictionary > definition? If it does, why did we need all these quotes and explain it? > > > Marsha > > > > On Jun 27, 2011, at 6:29 PM, david buchanan wrote: > >> >> >> Charlene wrote: >> "...The pragmatic method includes directives for validating a belief, >> whereas the principle of pure experience includes directives for formulating >> the belief in experiential terms...He [James] calls on the principle of pure >> experience, for instance, to demonstrate that if activity is to have any >> meaning at all, it must be derived from 'some concrete kind of experience >> that can be definitely pointed out' (James, Essays in Radical Empiricism, >> 81). The first step in the investigation must be to seek 'the original type >> and model of what it means' in the stream of experience." (Charlene >> Seigfried in "William James's Radical Reconstruction of Philosophy", page >> 318.) >> dmb comments: >> Seigfried is explaining James and quoting James. And she is telling us that >> concrete experience - as opposed to abstract thought - is the only place to >> look for the meaning of our activity. To find out what words like freedom >> and causality mean, the first thing to do is return to the stream of >> experience to see what they are in the originally felt and lived experience. >> That is where our concepts and abstractions come from and that's where they >> are tried and tested. That's what our ideas are about; life as it's lived. >> >> >> Charlene wrote: >> "James then develops his concrete description of human activity; 'But in >> this actual world or ours, as it is given, a part at least of activity comes >> with definite direction; it comes with desire and sense of goal; it comes >> complicated with resistances which it overcomes or succumbs to, and with the >> efforts which the feeling of resistance so often provokes; and it is in >> complex experiences like these that the notions of distinct agents, and of >> passivity as opposed to activity arise. Here also the notion of causal >> activity comes to birth. (ERE, 81-2) James culls from experience original >> models for understanding not only action, but causality and freedom. >> ...He goes into detail about the 'ultimate Qualiia' of 'these experiences of >> process, obstruction,, striving, strain, or release' and concludes that we >> cannot conceive of it as lived through except 'in the dramatic shape of >> something sustaining a felt purpose against felt obstacles, and overcoming >> or being overcome'." (C > ha >> rlene Seigfried in "William James's Radical Reconstruction of Philosophy", >> page 319.) >> >> ... > > > > ___ > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
