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    If the mechanism for producing belief is unavailable to r... — Carmelics
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    Challenges→The argument from expectation for believing in God succeeds regardless of the specific probability assigned to God's existence

    If the mechanism for producing belief is unavailable to rational agents on command, then the expected value argument succeeds formally but fails to prescribe any achievable epistemic state.

    ?Rate how convincing each reason is below to see the overall strength.
    1 reason for
    1 reason against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Beliefs cannot be voluntarily adopted on command; they require cognitive mechanisms operating below conscious control.
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    • 2.An argument is prescriptively hollow if it directs agents toward states they cannot causally access through available means.
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    • 3.Pascal's Wager and similar expected value arguments demand belief formation without specifying feasible psychological pathways to achieve it.
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    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Indirect methods (meditation, community immersion, argument exposure) enable rational agents to cultivate beliefs over time, making them achievable.
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    • 2.Distinguishing formal validity from practical prescriptiveness is legitimate; formal success doesn't require immediate implementability to remain meaningful.
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    • 3.The claim conflates inability to produce belief 'on command' with inability to produce belief through any rational method whatsoever.
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    Key Terms

    Prescribe(as used in epistemology)
    To say that something should be done or believed in a certain way; to recommend or require a particular course of action.
    achievable(as used in epistemology)
    Able to be accomplished or reached through available means.
    epistemic state(used interchangeably with 'cognitive state' in the passage)
    A cognitive state; the way things are represented or appear from the standpoint of a knowing subject
    expected value argument(as used in epistemology and decision theory)
    A logical argument that says you should believe something if the potential benefit of believing it outweighs the potential cost, even if you lack proof.
    mechanism for producing belief(as used in epistemology)
    The mental process or method our brain uses to create or form beliefs; in this case, whether we can deliberately choose to believe something just by deciding to.
    on command(as used in epistemology)
    Able to be done whenever you choose to do it; under your direct voluntary control.
    rational agents(Reid's account of autonomous action)
    Beings who can gain critical distance from mechanical and animal incentives and regulate their conduct by appeal to rational principles of action.
    succeeds formally(as used in logic and argumentation)
    Works according to the rules of logic; the argument is structurally sound and its reasoning is valid.

    Connections

    1 topic

    Natural Theology1 linked

    Related

    An argument is prescriptively hollow if it directs agents toward states they can...Beliefs cannot be voluntarily adopted on command; they require cognitive mechani...Distinguishing formal validity from practical prescriptiveness is legitimate; fo...Indirect methods (meditation, community immersion, argument exposure) enable rat...

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
    1 edit
    +3 moreShow less
    Pascal's Wager and similar expected value arguments demand belief formation with...The argument from expectation for believing in God succeeds regardless of the sp...The claim conflates inability to produce belief 'on command' with inability to p...