In This Reading James Sets Forth His View of Truth

question 6

Multiple Choice

In this reading James sets forth his view of truth. He holds that truth is dynamic rather than static and is to be defined in terms of beliefs that are useful or satisfying. Unlike the "intellectualists" (James's characterization of the traditional static approaches to the question of truth, i.e., the correspondence theorists) , truth is in process-still becoming and changing. Yesterday's truth is today's falsehood, and today's truth is tomorrow's half-truth. What really matters is what you can do with an idea, what difference it makes to your life, its (in James's term) "cash-value."
-According to James, pragmatism asks

• A) what concrete difference an idea's being true will make in one's life.
• B) how the idea matches up to reality.
• C) what other idea it coheres with.
• D) "why bother with truth?"

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