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Questions tagged [belief]

134 questions
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Why can't humans believe contradictions?

I'm reading something on the topic of logic and one of the exercises asked me to convince myself that a contradictory statement was true. I could not convince myself of this and now I am curious about whether this illustrates some innate…
James
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What is the term for the fallacy/strategy of ignoring logical reasoning intended to disprove a belief?

Updated 10/19/2018 -- Regards for all the responses. Much appreciated. To address the point of fact that one cannot "prove" anything about reality: Yes, I agree. This is the reason I now set my goals when engaging in this sort of heady discourse.…
McMahon
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What is the difference between knowledge and belief?

Sometimes this image is used to explain what agnosticism is and how it's independent from belief: It makes some sense but I still have confusion understanding it. What is the difference between knowledge and belief? Image source: "Agnosticism" on…
CiscoIPPhone
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What makes a basic belief a properly basic belief?

I'm currently looking into Plantinga's reformed epistemology and I'm trying to wrap my head around what makes a basic belief a properly basic belief. I understand what a basic belief is, in that it is a non-inferential belief. Plantinga seems to…
Mr. Zed
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Why is belief necessary for justified true belief?

In justified true belief it is said that for a person to know a fact it must be true, she must believe in it and she must be justified in believing it. My question is: Is belief necessary? Why is the following not enough: The fact is true. She has…
george
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Are You Blameworthy for "reasoning incorrectly"

Moral judgements are a certain species of normative judgement that people make about the actions of others. However, there are instances where I am tempted to say that you can be judged as "wrong" in non-moral contexts. I'm specifically interested…
Stella Biderman
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What are some resources on belief dissemination?

In the social psychology literature, there is a lot of discussion about the pathways through which one achieves social belief formation (i.e. persuasion, coercion, etc.). These differ from those provided in the philosophy literature (i.e. imitation,…
user155194
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What do atheists believe in? (in layman terms)

Issue I travel quite a bit and am often asked about my religious beliefs. I am atheist. I found it hard for some religious (or spiritual) people (whatever religion) to accept the concept of atheism and many would state something like You…
Remi.b
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Is belief an intentional act?

In what respect are we to understand the proposition, "I choose to believe x", and is there a significant difference between the proposition, "I choose to believe x" and "I choose to drive to San Diego this weekend"? Which epistemological systems…
Mark Francis
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If we can't be 100% sure of anything, then we have to believe everything with a grain of salt?

If we can't be 100% sure of anything, then we should trust everything with mistrust and suspicion? For example, the existence of other minds, the existence of the outside world, etc. is currently impossible to prove with absolute, 100% certainty. So…
Arnold
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Is there an objective standard of sufficient evidence?

It's very common to hear people say that we should only believe claims that are supported by sufficient evidence. Intuitively it seems to make sense, until we realize that this recommendation begs several questions: What is evidence? Can evidence…
user48437
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What the Preface paradox tells us about the principle of explosion

The Preface paradox (adopted on a classical logician): Imagine that a classical logician has just written a textbook (on classical logic). He has included many assertions in it and has thoroughly checked every one of them, thus he is justified in…
Constantly confused
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When ought we trust others instead of ourselves?

When ought we trust others instead of ourselves? Since, I've noticed that it's particularly commonplace to cite authors, even if they weren't scientists. E.g. in political contexts. "Marx said ...", "... but according to Adam Smith". It's…
mavavilj
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Is there a contemporary survey of exportation?

In "Unrestricted Exportation and Some Morals for the Philosophy of Language", Kripke discusses unrestricted exportation in relation to the de dicto / de re distinction. In this paper he cites a few papers that also deal with (or are at least…
Not_Here
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Assuming P means the same as Q and Bob believes P and is aware that P means the same as Q, can we conclude he believes Q?

Assuming Bob is a fairly rational person. If this is not the case, then is there a way to modify it? Also, is this the argument that Frege is making in "On Sense and Reference" that "the morning star" can't mean the same thing as "the evening star"?
MathTeacher
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