This Week
This Week is the Faculty Bulletin of Stetson University, DeLand, Florida 32720 and is published each Friday. All items for the Bulletin
should be sent to Maggie Dobson, Office of the Provost, Box 8358, not later than 4 p.m. on Wednesday of each week.
OCTOBER 6, 1989
IMPORTANT EVENTS
Friday, October 6
Tuesday, October 10
Wednesday, October 11
11:00 a.m.
Chapel
Last Day to Drop Course without
academic penalty (this is true!)
Fall Semester Blood Drive
(more details on page 2)
Father Joe Pinchock
Catholic Campus Minister
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The October meeting of the 1989-90 Faculty Senate will be held on Monday, October 9,
at 6:45 p.m. in the Private Dining Room. The agenda will include a presentation by
Mark Whittaker on the $200 million campaign and a discussion of two items brought by
the Educational Policies Committee: student grade grievances and Winter Term course
credit. All faculty are invited to attend. A Buffet dinner will be available at 6:00
p.m. for $4.50. All those who would like a dinner reservation should call Mitchell
Reddish at ext. 547 by noon on Monday. From: Dr. Jan Kindred, Chair, Faculty Senate
This year's first Collegial Seminar sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences,
will feature the paper that Dr. Paul Jerome Croce, American Studies, will be
presenting in Atlanta later this month. The paper is titled "Chance Thinking: The
Place of Probabilities in the Philosophy of William James." All interested people are
invited to enjoy his sharing this work with his colleagues here on Monday, October 9,
at noon in the Private Dining Room. Bring your own lunch; coffee and dessert will be
provided by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
ABSTRACT:
CHANCE THINKING: THE PLACE OF PROBABILITIES
IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF WILLIAM JAMES
In the late nineteenth century, William James was a major player in the probabilistic
revolution which influenced the assumptions and methods of almost every field of
inquiry. Spurred by the example of Charles Darwin's evolutionary science and Charles
Sanders Peirce's scientific methods, James developed a broad array of popular
philosophical and psychological theories that assumed the working of chance in the
world and sought truth in probabilities. As a minister without a pulpit in a rapidly
changing America, James boldly claimed the efficacy of individual effort even where
environment seemed to determine outcome, acknowledged the provisional qualities of
even the most august scientific claims, and demanded courage in the face of doubt.
Although he never devoted a whole work to them, this paper will trace the way William
James assumed the importance of probabilities and applied them throughout his work.
From: Dr. Paul D. Steeves
