(January 6, 2012 at 5:19 pm)Shell B Wrote: Oh, yes. I hold many beliefs. Most of them involve capabilities. For example, I believe that I can finish another novel this year. I don't know that for a fact. I could die before I get around to writing it, but I believe I can. I do not believe in reality. I know it to be there.
You know, it occurred to me that there's a disconnect here with respect to the meaning of the word believe / belief.
Belief != faith and belief != knowledge in the epistemological sense. Belief encompasses both concepts - one can believe something with or without it being known in the epistemological sense (i.e. without or without it being a justified and true belief).
So while it is true that you know that reality is real (duh), you also believe it. That being the case does not detract from the truth value of your belief. On the other hand, a belief grounded in faith cannot say anything about the truth of said belief in an epistemological sense.
In short, it's a bit silly to argue of the semantics of belief - it's a term that is too imprecise to have any real epistemological meaning. Theists tend to equate belief with knowledge, atheists belief with faith, and in my opinion, both are wrong to do so.
