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    William James and subsequent doxastic voluntarists argue ... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The argument from expectation for believing in God succeeds regardless of the specific probability assigned to God's existence

    William James and subsequent doxastic voluntarists argue that genuine belief cannot be produced by pragmatic calculation alone, making the wager's action-recommendation practically incoherent.

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    Key Terms

    Action-recommendation(as part of a philosophical claim)
    A suggestion about what someone should do based on a philosophical argument.
    Doxastic(as used in logic and argumentation)
    Related to beliefs or what people think is true. 'Doxastic' comes from the Greek word for 'opinion' and is used to describe theories that focus on people's beliefs rather than objective facts.
    Doxastic voluntarists(as a school of thought about belief)
    Philosophers who believe you can control your beliefs through willpower and choice, the way you control your actions.
    Pascal's Wager(Pascal's own framing of the Wager's role)
    An instrumental argument intended as a first step toward genuine religious faith, not as a substitute for it.
    Pragmatic calculation

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    Based on where you are in your exploration

    Explore a random proposition
    Start fresh with something unrelated.
    (as a method of decision-making)
    Reasoning that focuses on practical benefits and usefulness rather than what's actually true.
    William James(the philosopher being discussed)
    An American philosopher (1842-1910) who founded a school of thought called pragmatism, which judges ideas by whether they work in real life rather than whether they're theoretically perfect.
    practically incoherent(stronger than just being unrewarding—it becomes illogical given what you value)
    Something that doesn't make sense to actually do in real life because it contradicts what you actually believe or want.

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    Natural Theology1 linked

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    The argument from expectation for believing in God succeeds regardless of the sp...

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