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    It is psychologically possible to believe a proposition w... — Carmelics
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    It is psychologically possible to believe a proposition while accepting that one has insufficient evidence for that proposition's truth.

    SkepticismTruth & Knowledge
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    1 reason for
    2 reasons against

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
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    • 1.Many beliefs have causes that do not constitute or imply an evidential grounding of their truth.
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    • 2.Beliefs may be caused by 'passional' factors such as social environment, inherited tradition, or emotional states rather than evidence.
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    • 3.A person can already hold a passionally caused belief and then use that belief in practical reasoning despite its lack of adequate evidential grounding.
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
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    • 1.Genuine belief, by its constitutive nature, involves taking a proposition to be true, which entails treating available evidence as sufficient.
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    • 2.What appears to be 'believing while doubting evidence' is better analyzed as acceptance or assumption for practical purposes, not belief proper.
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    • 3.This distinction, drawn by Cohen (1992) and Bratman, shows the claim conflates two distinct propositional attitudes under one term.
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    Reason against 2 of 2
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    • 1.Clifford's evidentialist principle holds that the doxastic act of believing carries irreducible epistemic norms that cannot be voluntarily suspended.
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    • 2.If a subject sincerely judges their evidence insufficient, the resulting mental state fails to meet the threshold conditions that constitute belief.
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    • 3.Therefore the described psychological state is not belief but a weaker attitude such as conjecture, hope, or mere behavioral commitment.
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    Related

    A person can already hold a passionally caused belief and then use that belief i...Beliefs may be caused by 'passional' factors such as social environment, inherit...Clifford's evidentialist principle holds that the doxastic act of believing carr...Genuine belief, by its constitutive nature, involves taking a proposition to be ...
    +5 moreShow less
    If a subject sincerely judges their evidence insufficient, the resulting mental ...Many beliefs have causes that do not constitute or imply an evidential grounding...Therefore the described psychological state is not belief but a weaker attitude ...This distinction, drawn by Cohen (1992) and Bratman, shows the claim conflates t...What appears to be 'believing while doubting evidence' is better analyzed as acc...

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    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: faith
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    Some philosophers have argued, however, that one cannot (in full reflective awareness, anyway) believe that p while accepting that one has insufficient evidence for p’s truth (Adler 2002). The counterclaim that this is possible is defended by William James, in his controversial 1896 lecture, ‘The Will to Believe’ (James 1896 [1956]). James agrees that belief cannot be directly willed and must be otherwise causally evoked (he later came to wish that he had used ‘The Right to Believe’ as his lectu
    Extraction notes

    Validity: Extracted via Max plan + API grounding/validity checks

    Details

    Type
    claim
    Perspectives
    3 (1 for, 2 against)
    Edits
    1 edit