Whats The Definition Of "Believe"?

[spyderracing]

There is a definite distinction between belief and knowledge.

[PairTheBoard]

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There is a definite distinction between belief and knowledge.

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I don't think anyone is arguing with that.

PairTheBoard

[Nielsio]

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Isn't it just that you think it is more likely than not? That certainly is true in non religious connotations.

And if you agree with that it means that atheists believe there is no God.

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That is incorrect. When you are non-theistic, it means that you have no concept of god. It means you do not recognize the word as a reference to anything.

Now here comes the interesting part: does the theist actually have a concept of god? Ask them and find out. You will find that they do not and that their minds are actually broken to the point that they are convinced of the truth of non-defined things.

[speedfreek]

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So you see no inconsistency if someone says, "I know p is true, but I don't believe p."

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No, I said belief is not required, which is quite different from I do not believe. I see no inconsistency if someone says "I know p is true, so belief in p is not required."

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Also, if there is no belief involved when I "know that p" for some proposition p, then what is the difference between knowledge and certainty?

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There is no difference. Knowledge is certainty. If I know something, I am certain of it. It is only when I don't know something, and am therefore not that certain of that knowledge, that I have to resort to asking myself if I believe something or not.

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Q: Do you believe the Sun will come up tomorrow?
A: Yes, I believe the Sun will come up tomorrow, although I can't really know that.

Next day after the Sun has come up.

Q: Do you believe the Sun Came up this morning?
A: I know the Sun came up this morning. I believe it now even more than I did last night.

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My version of this would be

Q: Do you believe the Sun will come up tomorrow?
A: Well, I would like to say I know it will come up tomorrow but I suppose I cannot, so I will have to say I believe the Sun will come up.

Q: Do you believe the Sun Came up this morning?
A: I know it did. There is no question. It is a certainty.
Q: Yes, but do you believe the Sun came up?
A: I do not question it, therefore belief is not required. It's a fact.
Q: Come on, you don't know that for sure, maybe the Sun didn't really come up, and this is a film set and that's not sunlight you are really seeing...
A: Do you want to see stars?!

If someone asks me to name something I believe in, I will often say "Love." [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[m_the0ry]

See: epistemology