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Inverse View
It is not the case that James's momentousness criterion does essential epistemic work by distinguishing decisions where evidential suspension of judgment is genuinely unavailable.
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Reason for
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1.
Momentousness conflates practical urgency with epistemic justification; time pressure doesn't create new warrant-standards.
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2.
Many momentous decisions allow extended investigation (career, marriage) without meaningful practical cost, undermining the criterion.
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3.
If suspension becomes unavailable, that's a pragmatic fact about agents, not evidence that epistemic standards should shift.
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Reasons Against
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Reason against
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1.
Some decisions (life-altering choices) cannot be postponed until evidence is conclusive without costs equivalent to deciding.
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2.
Momentousness identifies precisely when epistemic suspension becomes practically inaccessible, marking genuine rational constraints.
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3.
Without distinguishing high-stakes decisions, epistemic norms become disconnected from actual human deliberative capacities.
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