...“It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, “mad cow” disease, and many others, but I think a case can be made that faith is one of the world’s great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate. Faith, being belief that isn’t based on evidence, is the principle vice of religion.” - Richard Dawkins Many other philosophers and professionals of academia criticize religion for its reliance on faith. More specifically, they condemn the act of using faith to reason –rationalizing actions based on something other than evidence or proof. My argument does not necessarily confine itself to the focus frame of religion, but more generally, I argue that it is justified to form beliefs that are not grounded in sufficient evidence. I will use my initial motivation for this topic as an appropriate introduction for this argument. Throughout the semester I was genuinely intrigued by the atheistic arguments of astounding philosophers –most notable and influential on my own beliefs were the ideas of Hume, Dawkins, Clifford, and even Nietzsche. In light of this and the logically superior option to argue against the existence of God, … I did. In fact, I was four pages into what was shaping out to be the best paper I’ve written since my secondary school thesis on underwater basket weaving. At some point, however, I could not continue writing. I had no passion, desire, or any sense of purpose while trying to grind out...
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...but there may be an underlying and critical flaw in this collective religious conviction; does one actually choose to believe something, or is it merely an involuntary outlook based on what we perceive to be true from life experience? Belief can also be examined in everyday life. It is all around and is used for every decision and in every thought. Borchert's Encyclopedia of Philosophy exemplifies the ulterior complexities of belief that many people are not conscious of; belief is "...a species of propositional attitude distinguished by having the mind-to-world direction of fit" (Borchert). A propositional attitude is simply a psychological mode paired with psychological content. In the case of belief, belief itself would be the psychological mode, and what one believes would be the content. The "mind-to-world direction of fit" refers to belief's "...aim to represent how the world is independently"(Borchert). With a verbal definition of belief, it is also necessary to understand the components. To believe something, there is a multitude of connections between numerous pieces of information and facts. "...Understanding the validity of the inference from the belief that gold is a metal, and the belief that this ring is gold, to the belief that this ring is metal, requires seeing the logical connections between the propositional contents of the first...
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...Knowledge or Belief Joseph Bland American Intercontinental University Abstract What is knowledge and what is belief? Can the two topics mean the same? Knowledge is something that is believed to be true. Beliefs are truths that have no evidence to prove it is true. There are two kinds of truth empirical truth and necessary truth. These are statements that require a great deal of thought. Knowledge of Belief The person that I chose to write about who I truly believe loves me is my mother. I believe mothers are born with the distinct characteristic for love. Some may confuse the meaning of love with being a provider all of which falls under the characteristics of a mother’s love but different meaning. There is no concrete evidence that proves mothers are born to love but through experience and physical emotions I have come to believe it is true. I could begin the discussion by stating I have five other siblings but the topic of the discussion is me and my mother not my siblings. My mother has displayed her love for me in many ways. I grew up in an era when things weren’t as plentiful as they are today. The community and the environment that I was raised in wasn’t the friendliest or safest place to raise a child. There have been many times my mother has deprived herself of or went without things because she knew it was more important to take care of my needs first. There is no concrete evidence that would prove my mother loves me, only the actions and reaction she has...
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...We human beings are different from each other and so our beliefs. I have mine while you have yours and these beliefs of mine are the foundation of who I am. How do I view life? This is the question in my philosophy class that I need to answer. As I was thinking how to answer this, a cartoon character suddenly pop into my mind: JACK FROST. I remember a line from the movie Rise of the Guardians, Jack Frost said to the child, “I know your scared but don’t worry, were gonna have a little fun instead. That’s it! That’s my center. Fun!” I cannot forget what he said because it made me realize that each and everyone of us have our own center where we can pattern our life. At that moment I asked myself, what is my center? Then it struck me, Happiness! That is why I am touched with those lines because I can see myself. Life for me is happiness. Now that I have the answer to that question, how do I view life, my thoughts went 12 years ago. When I was a little girl there was one event where my mother and I went to a store. In that store I saw a doll house and I said to my mother “I want to buy that doll house it will make me happy.” My mother responded “We don’t have enough money to buy that”, and I said out of innocence “let’s just get it, anyway they won’t see us.” My mother just smile and said “Material things cannot make you happy especially if you acquire it by doing bad. They can give you pleasure but it won’t last.” From then on that statement becomes the pillar of my moral character...
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...ANT 102 Beng Belief System The Beng culture, fascinating and unique, is learned about in the books written by Alma Gottlieb. Beng people have a specific belief system that is exemplified in both Parallel Worlds and the video clips created for The Afterlife is Where We Came From. The adornment of jewelry for Beng babies is a practice that the people concern themselves with because of their belief that the jewelry will serve both medicinal and aesthetic purposes. The belief that everything happens for a reason is shown through that example along with the situation of the death of Félice in the memoir Parallel Worlds. In the video clip entitled “Jewelry,” a Beng mother is seen creating jewelry for a 4 day old baby girl, demonstrating the importance the people place on keeping their babies alive. Infant mortality in the Beng is high, thus leading the Beng to be extremely conscious of babies’ health. While some jewelry is just used to assure the child that they are cared for, there is also the belief that the jewelry will counteract death in the baby. To relate the belief system of all things occurring for a reason, compare the jewelry custom to the death of a young Beng boy, Félice. As Alma recalled a past conversation about the child’s inability to walk, she remembered the Beng’s belief that Félice was cursed because his parents had not waited to have sex until he learned to walk. This type of thinking is an example of how the people in that culture had an explanation behind...
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...KNOWLEDGE VS BELIEF Abstract: How do we decide on what to believe when someone tells you one thing but the evidence shows differently? When someone tells us they love us how do we really know what to believe? Are our thoughts based on what we know or what we choose to believe? We are taught that one of life’s greatest treasures is a freedom of knowing. Introduction Human knowledge has attained great heights and established a body of knowing facts for beyond the capacity of any person to master. Plato philosophy, stated in order to have knowledge, one must also have justified true belief (anayambaker.hubpages.com). One person I know and believe that loves me is my parents. In this paper, I will argue the difference in knowledge and belief. I will submit evidence and logic reason to support my arguments. After going thru the evidence, the reader will understand why I maintain my original cauterization of knowledge and belief. The theory of knowledge can guide us in deciding what to believe what to ignore, what to question, and what we don’t know (emotionalcompetency.com). I know without a doubt that my mother loves me. do know and believe my parents love me, as people we learn about physical objects empirically, by means of the senses: we look at them, taste them, listen to them, and so on. Only thing we don’t have real knowledge of the visible world jut mere opinion. Good allows us to understand, and Plato thinks we can’t know the good without wanting to do...
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...KNOWLEDGE VS BELIEF Kimberly Johnson Introduction to Philosophy Dr. Nwonye AIU 02/24/2013 Abstract: How do we decide on what to believe when someone tells you one thing but the evidence shows differently? When someone tells us they love us how do we really know what to believe? Are our thoughts based on what we know or what we choose to believe? We are taught that one of life’s greatest treasures is a freedom of knowing. Introduction Human knowledge has attained great heights and established a body of knowing facts for beyond the capacity of any person to master. Plato philosophy, stated in order to have knowledge, one must also have justified true belief (anayambaker.hubpages.com). One person I know and believe that loves me is my parents. In this paper, I will argue the difference in knowledge and belief. I will submit evidence and logic reason to support my arguments. After going thru the evidence, the reader will understand why I maintain my original cauterization of knowledge and belief. The theory of knowledge can guide us in deciding what to believe what to ignore, what to question, and what we don’t know (emotionalcompetency.com). I know without a doubt that my mother loves me. do know and believe my parents love me, as people we learn about physical objects empirically, by means of the senses: we look at them, taste them, listen to them, and so on. Only thing we don’t have real knowledge of the visible world jut mere opinion. Good allows us...
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...Knowledge and Justified Belief What is knowledge? This is the question we used to be sure of according to Plato’s theory of recollection, which tells that the knowledge is the justified belief; if this belief is true, then there is some fact make the proposition for this belief to be true; since the belief is justified by some evidence; therefore people comes up with the standard analysis of knowledge. This idea has been generally agreed till Edmund Gettier came up with the article questioning if knowledge is the justified true belief. Gettier provides two cases wherein intuitively the subject gains a justified true belief does not equal to knowledge. By contrast, Gettier’s arguments indicate the situation in which someone has a belief that is both true and well supported by evidence but fails to be knowledge. That is, it is sufficient and necessary to have belief, truth and justification to define knowledge as in classical theory, yet, the Gettier’s theory by questioning knowledge that justifiably believe one of the true proposition and dismiss the other is necessary and sufficient add-on to the classical theory to redefine knowledge. First of all, according to Plato’s theory of knowledge, that knowledge is justified true belief, or as Gettier concluded Plato’s classical theory of knowledge as: “ S knows that P if and only if P is true; S believes in P and S is justified in believing P” (Gettier 1). In the Meno, written by Plato, he believes that knowledge appears to...
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...Describe the Health Belief Model (10) The health belief model is a psychological model that attempts to explain and predict health behaviors, focusing on the attitudes and beliefs of individuals does this. It is used to predict the uptake of health behaviors based on several factors. The more factors that are present in a particular situation, the more likely you are to behave healthily. Health behaviors include giving something up (smoking), refusing to try something (drugs), regularly checking your health (self-examination), regularly preventing problems (brushing your teeth). According to the health belief model, the likelihood that individuals will carry out a health behavior depends directly on two assessments that they make- evaluating the threat and the cost-benefits analysis. Evaluating the threat of a certain behavior entails considering how serious one believes the behavior to be and susceptibility of the behavior. In regards to the costs-benefit analysis one is believed to consider whether the perceived benefits of changing behavior exceed the perceived barriers. An example of benefits could include improved health and relief from anxiety. Some examples of barriers could include financial instability and situational problems (getting to a gym). Becker’s study used the HBM to explain mum’s adherence to a drug regimen (i.e routine for taking medication) for their asthmatic children. The study confirms the HBM is an accurate predictor of the likelihood of a...
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...Folk Beliefs: Its effect on adolescents Adsuara, Abigail Q. De La Salle University-Dasmarinas Abstract This paper shows the effects of folk beliefs to Filipino adolescents of the 21st century. The goal of the paper is to know the adolescents’ views and opinions about folk beliefs. The goal has been done by analyzing the information given by a certain number of respondents through an interview and online survey. Upon analyzing the information, the researcher concluded that most Filipino adolescents do not believe on folk beliefs but they have high respect on it because it is part of the Filipino culture. The paper highlights how folk beliefs can limit an adolescent’s view of reality to show the effects of it to human. Introduction Science and technology had already conquered this generation. Since the American liberation had conquered the Philippines many years ago, the Filipinos had started to drag themselves to a change that everyone thought will effaced the old traditions and customs. The Filipinos thought that the older generation’s ways can be absorbed by the technology that surrounds them. Tradition was being passed from one generation to the next. They practice it and unknowingly, they believe on it. Some of them are not aware that his nature was built around this tradition. Among the traditions of the Filipinos is the set of unwritten laws that their ancestors introduced thousands of years ago. Folk beliefs or superstitions are common notion or beliefs that...
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...Delusions Between Religion and Religious Beliefs Glenn Watkins Park University 3 December 2010 Abstract This paper discusses the results a study conducted by Mental, Health, Religion and Culture regarding a qualitative study examining the relationship between religious beliefs and delusions. The paper discusses the definition of delusions as well as religion and makes a stark comparison between the two. The paper includes many different religions and how each claims having a monopoly to salvation. The study included white males from seemingly the same background who were diagnosed as having symptoms of delusions ranging from ages 34 – 57. The paper also discusses several theories as discussed in class regarding thoughts from Erikson, Sullivan and Fromm. Finally, the paper concludes with a brief historical summary of why the author has contention with religion and religious beliefs. Key words: Delusional, fanaticisms, capricious, analogous, and tantamount. When one person suffers from delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from delusion it is called religion. - Robert M. Pirsig There is a close kinship to the relationship between religious beliefs and religious delusion. Merriam-Webster defines delusion as a persistent false psychotic belief regarding the self or persons or objects outside the self that is maintained despite indisputable evidence to the contrary; also: the abnormal state marked by such beliefs. Religion is defined as the service...
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...The human race tends to have a variety of beliefs throughout both concrete and abstract areas of knowledge, in this essay I will explore to what degree beliefs need evidence. Using examples, I will focus on the following knowledge issues; does our perception of evidence justify our beliefs? And are we able to have beliefs without evidence? Noticeably, all areas of knowledge are benefited by support from evidence. It is a question of how much evidence is needed for sufficient support. The title holds many concepts that can be explored in different ways. ‘Beliefs’ can be described as spontaneous occurrences of vivid ideas in the mind’ (Pojman). More abstract areas of knowledge such as art can adopt this meaning as they require less ‘evidence’ ;being subjective means that it does not necessarily require physical proof. ‘Beliefs can also be caused by experiencing things in constant conjunction to each other’ (Pojman). This depicts the fact that belief is more of a ‘reasoned process.’ More concrete areas of knowledge like Human and Natural sciences will usually follow this meaning. Science is a methodical process in which we experiment to test theories which constantly use evidence. ‘Evidence’ can be defined as the ‘availability of facts or information indicating whether a ‘belief’ or proposition is true or valid’. In this definition we already see that evidence demands physical proof. However, evidence is not limited to the physical state. For example, religion is individual and...
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...Title: The Effects of Pseudo-Science and Superstitious Beliefs in Student’s Life Table of Contents Appendix A • Acknowledgement Page 3 • Consent Form Page 4-5 Abstract Page 6 Background of Info Page 7 Introduction Page 8-9 Literature review Page 9-13 Methodology Page 13-14 Result Page 15-17 Discussion Page 18-19 Conclusion Page 20 References Page 21-23 Appendix B • Survey Questionnaires Page 1-4 • Figure Page 5-6 • Journals Page 7-17 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to take this golden opportunity to thank Mr. Goh Wai Meng, our ADP Co-Coordinator for allowing me and giving me the opportunity to take up Senior Project as a subject. I also like to thank Mr. JQ. Lim, for his kindness and long dedication in helping me in completing the project. Without his guidance and help, I would not be able to complete this subject successfully and comprehensively. Not forgetting our fellow classmates for in giving us the co-operations by giving me the necessary information which helps me in finishing my compilation on time. Without them, the class also would not be a fun, learning environment. Through this subject, I able to understand and...
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...“The verification principle offers no real challenge to religious belief.” Discuss [35] The verification principle is a significant concept used by many philosophers in order to determine whether a religious statement is meaningful or not. This was highly influenced by logical positivism: group of 20th century philosophers called the Vienna circle and was then further developed by British philosopher A.J Ayer. Religious language refer to statements such as ‘God exists’ and ‘God loves me’. Whilst these metaphysical claims are often rendered as meaningless by verificationism, one must take into account the strengths and weaknesses. Ayer, in his first edition of ‘Language, Truth and Logic’ (1936), asserts that a statement is meaningful if and only if it can be verified by the sense observation or a tautology. By this he means that they are either a priori (before sense experience) analytic, where the predicate is entailed by the subject, or a posteriori (after sense experience) synthetic, where the predicate is not entailed by the subject. An example of a priori analytic statement would be that ‘all unmarried men are bachelors’ and this is also a tautology as it is true by definition. An example of a posteriori synthetic statement would be that ‘John is a bachelor’. For Ayer, if a statement cannot be verified in this way, then it is factually insignificant and thus, meaningless. He affirms that religious statements fall into neither category of priori analytic nor posteriori synthetic...
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...Megan Morrone Sigmund Freud and William James on Religion Intro to Philosophy Final May 3, 2013 The Will to Believe, an essay by William James, is a defense of religious faith in the absence of convincing logical facts or scientific evidence. James focuses on reasoning and choice in reference to the basis of belief. To James, when reasoning it is a necessity to recognize other considerations apart from those in which the evidence points to. If truth is the primary focus of our beliefs, sometimes it may necessary to take the risk of believing without solid evidence. Moreover, he clarifies that, although we sometimes have a choice in what we believe, there are many beliefs that we cannot will. James views faith in God as falling short of knowledge because we, as humans do not naturally experience the supernatural. However, he also explains that, such faith is sensibly meaningful to many people, and it is reasonable to wonder how, and to what extent it can be justified. James believes that both logic and science have limits beyond which we can legitimately seek rationality. James discusses genuine choice and stresses the three criteria for genuine choice; the choice must be live, forced, and momentous. In other words, personally meaningful, mutually exclusive and presented with an option and/or answer, and must involve potentially important consequences. James defines religion broadly, as having simply two elements, the first being that the best things are eternal, and second...
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