Truth is what is helpful

William James is considered the father of Psychology and of Pragmatic Philosophy. In his essay “What pragmatism means” he suggests a provocative but well-rounded argument that truth is what is helpful. 

The main argument goes like this. 

Truthness is a type of goodness, rather than a separate entity to it. He says “truth in our ideas means their power to ‘work’ ”. 

By “work” he considers the function in our lives, the consequences of believing something to be true, in accordance with the things we already hold to be true. If something is helpful for us to believe, as in, supports a practical use for us, then it is true.  

“If there be any idea which, if believed in, would help us lead that (better) life, then it would be really better for us to believe in that idea, unless, indeed, belief in it accidentally clashes with other greater vital benefits”

Let’s face it. It sounds like a ridiculous idea. But it isn’t.  

Reality is unknowable 

We have been educated to believe in the Kantian notion that there are subjective experiences (phenomena) and objective facts or things-as-they-are. 

But since reality can only be perceived through our systems of human meaning-making, ultimately there isn’t a knowable reality, just constructs and symbols to communicate raw experiences. As Simone de Beauvoir puts it “words have to murder reality before they can hold it captive”. 

In any case, the author has an important mechanic to make his whole truth-as-helpfulness system viable: “other truths have also to be acknowledged”. 

Let’s say someone says: “there is an all-powerful, eternal fairy that will make sure your experience of death is ultimately pleasurable.” 

That would be helpful. It would give us relief and help alleviate some possible death anxiety now or in the future. 

The problem is that if you believe in this fairy, you would need to believe in the possibility of eternal beings with supernatural powers with no evidence. Generally speaking you probably already believe that these mythical entities do not literally exist, and this gives you a solid grounding in the world. Giving that up would be unhelpful. 

Hence, the all-powerful fairy idea is untrue because it’s unhelpful at reconciling previous experiences and current beliefs with the new experience of hearing someone talking about this fairy. 

But if you experienced this fairy in an actual real way somehow, yes you would believe in it, and equally it would open the door to other eternal powerful beings. Because believing in them would give you better psychological equipment in dealing with this life of yours that has now gained this new possibility. 

For our ancestors these unbelievable truths have been “storms”, “electricity”, “airplanes”. 

As James says “Ideas become true just insofar as they help us get into satisfactory relation with other parts of our experience”

Let’s get serious: a pragmatic approach to wellbeing.  

This pragmatic view of truth is very helpful when considering the role that memories, stories and identity play in the evaluation of our past and our hopes for the future. 

When we are telling our stories, when we are weaving our identities from the fragments of memories of our past experiences, we make choices. 

We choose what to believe. 

We believe we are unlovable. Or we believe we are wonderful. 

We believe we can’t play. Or we give ourselves that permission. 

We believe our parents f**** us up. Or we believe we overcame a difficult childhood. 

We believe we are lazy. Or we believe we love to sleep. 

Which one is true? Which one is helpful?  

Evaluating the consequences of beliefs and their relation to other beliefs we have can help us uncover truer, this is more helpful, beliefs about ourselves, others and the world.

Bibliography

James, W. (1907/2000) Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking. Edited by F.H. Burkhardt, F. Bowers and I.K. Skrupskelis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
(For the essay “What Pragmatism Means” — originally published in 1907.)

de Beauvoir, S. (1960/1993) The Prime of Life. Translated from the French by P. Green. London: Virago.