Practical Life in the Face of Abstract Principles in William James
Entelekya Logico-Metaphysical Review, cilt.8, sa.1, ss.47-57, 2024 (Hakemli Dergi)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 8 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2024
- Dergi Adı: Entelekya Logico-Metaphysical Review
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Philosopher's Index, Sobiad Atıf Dizini, European Reference Index for the Humanities and Social Science (ERIH PLUS)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.47-57
- Ankara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
In the history
of philosophy, philosophers
have defined philosophy
based on their
own perspectives. This
situation shows that it is a difficult and meaningless endeavor to put
forward an understanding of philosophy that has clear boundaries and is
accepted by everyone. However, despite these differences in definitions, there
are some common points. Perhaps the most important of these common points is
that philosophy is a stance, a positioning activity in the face of truth. In
this positioning, William James
tried to find
the moderate path between the
currents of rationalism
and empiricism and
took a stance based
on concrete differences
in life. Like
the empiricists, he tried to keep
people's relations with facts alive, but at the same time, he did not exclude
religion by adopting a rationalist
attitude. However, James
argued that abstract
concepts cannot have meaning unless they find their counterpart in life.
According to James,
a life based
only on abstract
principles would not be qualified. In this study, I will try reconciling
William James’ attitude towards abstract principles with practical life.