Nick Taylor PHIL-1000 Professor Tena Holbrook 4/29/2014 Truth and Its Pragmatic Value Friedrich Nietzsche and

William James were two philosophers that share somewhat similar views. One of these views regards the way they look at truth. I believe they both could agree that people invent truths according to their psychological need of that idea. If their truth helps them get through the day, sleep at night, and function as a whole then whos to tell them that theyre wrong to believe such a truth? Nietzsche and James tell us that truth can be derived from the pragmatic value that it holds for the individual. This means that when trying to find the truth, an individual must seek out what it means to themselves. If the belief in God is the only way for someone to get themselves out of bed in the morning, then, according to Nietzsche and James, they should definitely believe in him with all their heart. It was James that said, Better a necessary lie than a destructive and unnecessary truth. To give an example of what James means by this, imagine a father next to his son at a hospital. The sons mother has just passed away. The father tells his son that momma is sleeping, and will be forever. The father doesnt want to break the childs heart, just as the child wouldnt want to hear that his mother has just died. This is an example of telling a necessary lie over an unnecessary truth. As the child goes on believing that his mother is sleeping, he can

cope a little better with her absence. This necessary lie has pragmatic value for the child, and therefore can become the childs own truth. So what happens when people are believing their necessary lies on a massive scale? Nietzsche saw this problem and created the claim that God is dead. Moreover he claimed that we were the ones that killed him. In his writing The Madman, Nietzsche gave an account of a Madman proclaiming these very statements to people in a market place. After passionately explaining the consequences of God being dead, the mass of people stared at him blankly. At last the Madman dropped his lantern on the ground and said, I come too early. He realized that at this time people are not ready to accept that God is, in fact, dead. They instead rely on their necessary lies for a purpose, a moral code, and guidance through their lives. The Death of God will be a horrific event for the people that Nietzsche describes as the Underman. They will become lost and depressed without an ego-ideal to look toward. Nietzsche says that nihilism will take over. Religious values and science will have no meaning anymore and we will have to begin to look towards ourselves for value. For people who are willing to stand on their own in a world without a god, this is a glorious opportunity. An opportunity for the Overman to come forth. Someone who is beyond man, beyond conventional morality, beyond the idea of any kind of worship towards false idols. He will look to himself for value of life, and will live that life for only himself. The human race will take an incredible leap forwards in the name of morality. What a miraculous day this would be. The one step we would have to take first is wholly acknowledging and accepting that God is, in fact, dead.