🔷 Introduction:
Truth is a fundamental and eternal topic of philosophy. In ancient philosophy, truth was considered an eternal, universal, and unchanging concept. But William James, with his pragmatic perspective, reshaped the concept of truth. According to him, truth is an experience-based, practical, and changing reality, which depends on the needs and results of the individual. This exceptional perspective challenges the traditional form of truth and reveals a reality-based form.
🔷 Definition of James’s doctrine of truth (4–5 line paragraph):
According to William James, truth is not a fixed or eternal thing; rather, it is a process that is gradually formed based on experience. An idea or belief is established as true only when it is useful in real life and plays a role in solving problems. In this view, truth has a kind of practical “value”, which he called the “cash-value of truth”. That is, truth is an idea that successfully guides our thinking and actions.
🔷 Key features of James’s theory of truth:
✅ 1. The factual nature of truth:
According to James, truth “happens to an idea.” An idea becomes true only when it stands the test of experience and works in reality. Truth is not a predetermined thing.
✅ 2. Truth is just a useful concept:
He said, “The idea that works in our thinking and behavior is truth. Truth is determined by how useful and helpful a doctrine is in solving problems.”
✅ ৩. Cash-value of truth:
James determined the value of truth based on practical results. If an idea is practically useful, it will be considered true. This is his so-called “cash-value.”
✅ 4. Personal truth:
According to James, each person’s experience and reality are different, so their perception of truth may also be different. This view makes truth a relative and experience-based concept.
✅ 5. Variable and context-dependent truth:
An idea that is true in one context may be false in another. As a result, truth is never final or universal, but rather context-dependent and changing.
✅ 6. The usefulness and effectiveness of truth:
James associates truth with utility and effectiveness. Truth is an idea that is consistent with future experience and that produces results in reality.
✅ 7. Experience-based:
Truth is an empirical construct. A doctrine is true only when it is successfully proven through personal and collective experience.
✅ 8. Results are more important than arguments:
According to James, an idea is acceptable even if it is logically weak if it is fruitful. In this, the structure of truth goes beyond traditional rationalism.
✅ 9. The truth of religious beliefs:
If religious belief brings peace of mind and moral development to a person’s life, then James accepts that as truth. This gives a place to feelings in the stream of truth.
✅ 10. The validity of thought is the measure of truth:
Thoughts become true only when they become meaningful in life. Truth does not mean just theoretical correctness, but also the ability to meet the needs of life.
🔷 Critical Analysis:
🔹 First of all:
James makes truth so subjective and relative that it does not establish any ultimate or universal truth. As a result, the universality of philosophy is also called into question.
🔹 Secondly:
His “cash-value” concept diminishes the philosophical seriousness of truth. If truth is judged solely by its practical utility, it becomes philosophically weak and provisional.
🔹 Thirdly:
Accepting religious beliefs as truth calls into question the scientific and rational nature of philosophy, creating confusion between truth and feeling.
🔷 Conclusion:
William James’s realistic and empirical formulation of truth marked a turning point in modern philosophy. His doctrine presented philosophy as an effective tool for solving real-life problems. Although his theory of truth has been criticized in some quarters for its relativism and individualism, it nevertheless gave modern philosophy a realistic and humanistic form that continues to influence logic, education, and social thought today.
🔷 Important books and references:
- 📘 Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking – William James
- 📘 The Meaning of Truth – William James
- 📘 The Will to Believe – William James
