RE: Faith and "Truth vs Utility"
May 12, 2017 at 12:10 pm
(This post was last modified: May 12, 2017 at 12:11 pm by Edwardo Piet.)
(May 12, 2017 at 11:36 am)Valyza1 Wrote: I have often heard people say that the only good reason to believe something is if it is shown as likely to be true. What if, however, you have a proposition for which it is impossible to show evidence either for or against it's truth value, but also for which there is great utility in adopting? Is adopting this kind of proposition as if it's true just as good as (if not even better than) adopting a proposition that is demonstrably true? If the proposition is "God exists", I think many theists might answer yes to the question, but I'm not sure.
Well... if there is a proposition in which behaving as if it's true is useful regardless of its actual truth value.... then that just means that behaving if it's true is useful regardless of its actual truth value.
If you still aren't convinced you're not going to actually believe it regardless of if you find it useful to 'behave as if' it's true or not.
P.S. Pretending God exists when you don't believe he does is certainly a futile act; not a useful one.