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    Made withinDC&Austin
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    321,452
    Perspectives
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    42
    The hope that theism is true is a sufficient reason to be... — Carmelics
    Home/Religious Experience
    HistoryEditSee Inverse

    The hope that theism is true is a sufficient reason to believe in theism

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

    Reasons For

    1 perspective
    Reason for
    ?
    • 1.Theism is intellectually open
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    • 2.Theism is part of a genuine option
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    • 3.There are vital goods attached to theistic belief
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    Reasons Against

    2 perspectives
    Reason against 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.W.K. Clifford's evidentialist principle holds that believing on insufficient evidence is morally culpable regardless of the vital goods at stake.
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    • 2.The 'vital goods' attached to theistic belief are equally available through non-doxastic attitudes like hope or commitment, making full belief unnecessary.
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    • 3.If hoped-for benefit justifies belief in theism, the same logic licenses belief in mutually exclusive rival religious systems offering comparable vital goods.
      ?

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    Reason against 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Belief is not subject to direct voluntary control, so hope alone cannot generate genuine doxastic commitment (Williams, 'Deciding to Believe').
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    • 2.Pragmatic grounds for belief are categorically distinct from epistemic grounds, and conflating them produces self-deception rather than authentic faith.
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    Topics

    Religious ExperienceNatural Theology

    Connections

    2 topics

    Modality & Possibility2 linkedConsequentialism1 linked

    Related

    Belief is not subject to direct voluntary control, so hope alone cannot generate...If hoped-for benefit justifies belief in theism, the same logic licenses belief ...Pragmatic grounds for belief are categorically distinct from epistemic grounds, ...The 'vital goods' attached to theistic belief are equally available through non-...
    +4 moreShow less
    Theism is intellectually openTheism is part of a genuine optionThere are vital goods attached to theistic beliefW.K. Clifford's evidentialist principle holds that believing on insufficient evi...

    Similar

    Acceptance of theistic hope provides reason to act as if theism were t...89%Omni-theism is very probably false86%Belief in theism is justified, though not with full certainty83%Hope in theism motivates action oriented toward theism being true83%

    Source

    AI-extracted1/3 agreementValid
    SEP: pragmatic-belief-god
    View source passageHide passage
    In any case, given that theism is intellectually open and that it’s part of a genuine option, and given that there are vital goods attached to theistic belief, James says, the hope that it is true is a sufficient reason to believe. In addition this objection is easily evaded if we revise the notion of a genuine option by removing the requirement that an option is genuine only if momentous, although James himself may have been loath to drop that requirement.
    Extraction notes

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

    Details

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