"If this life be not a real fight, in which something is eternally gained for the universe by success, it is no better than a game of private theatricals from which one may withdraw at will."
William James's 1895 address to the Harvard Young Men's Christian Association tackles the fundamental question that has haunted philosophy since its inception: is life worth living? But James, ever the pragmatist, refuses to answer with metaphysical abstractions.
The Question Itself
The very act of asking "Is life worth living?" reveals something profound about the human condition. Animals do not ask this question. They simply live. But humans—cursed or blessed with self-consciousness—can step back from existence itself and evaluate whether the whole enterprise is worthwhile.
James argues that this question typically arises not from philosophical curiosity but from a specific psychological state: what he calls "the nightmare view of life." When someone asks whether life is worth living, they are usually experiencing depression, meaninglessness, or what we might today call existential crisis.
The Religious Hypothesis
James proposes that belief in a moral order—what he calls "the religious hypothesis"—provides the strongest answer to life's worth. Not because it can be proven, but because it makes life livable. The religious hypothesis suggests that:
1. The best things are the more eternal things
2. We are better off even now if we believe the hypothesis to be true
This is not an argument for any particular religion, but for the psychological and practical value of believing that our actions matter in some ultimate sense.
The Pragmatic Turn
What makes James's essay remarkable is his refusal to prove life's worth through logic. Instead, he argues that we must act as if life is worth living, and in that action, make it so. This is pragmatism at its finest: truth is not something we discover through contemplation, but something we create through committed action.
"Be not afraid of life," James concludes. "Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact."
Modern Relevance
In an age of rising depression, anxiety, and what some call a "crisis of meaning," James's essay feels startlingly contemporary. He anticipated by a century the existentialist insight that we must create our own meaning. But unlike the existentialists, James offers a warmer, more hopeful vision: meaning is not created in isolation, but through engagement with a moral universe that responds to our efforts.
Source: William James, The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)
Public Domain: Available via Project Gutenberg