I'm resisting the word "belief" because I find it undefined. What does it mean to believe something? Simply to have an idea, and to suspect that it represents truth in some context?
I read "believe" as "think that an idea represents objective truth." In that sense, I will still have to say that my beliefs are limited to a philosophical context. Or, to put it another way, it is only through arbitrary philosophical choices that a context exists by which any objective truth can be judged "true."
I very much prefer the word "decide" to "believe." For example, I've decided to accept the existence of other people, but for selfish reasons: my interactions with people have little meaning unless I accept their reality. If not for that, I'd be raping, murdering, and jerking off on buses, and whistling a happy ditty while doing it. But my intuition is that without real human beings to affect, I would find little satisfaction in it.
If I've decided (with no real proof mind you) that others are real, and act as such (for example by typing messages to you), would you call it belief? Can you make a decision or definition and then call it a belief?
What if I describe the properties of cats-- furriness, eye shape, meowing sound, selfish behavior. If I see something which matches those properties, do I believe I'm looking at a cat? Can it be said to be true or false that I'm looking at a cat?
I read "believe" as "think that an idea represents objective truth." In that sense, I will still have to say that my beliefs are limited to a philosophical context. Or, to put it another way, it is only through arbitrary philosophical choices that a context exists by which any objective truth can be judged "true."
I very much prefer the word "decide" to "believe." For example, I've decided to accept the existence of other people, but for selfish reasons: my interactions with people have little meaning unless I accept their reality. If not for that, I'd be raping, murdering, and jerking off on buses, and whistling a happy ditty while doing it. But my intuition is that without real human beings to affect, I would find little satisfaction in it.
If I've decided (with no real proof mind you) that others are real, and act as such (for example by typing messages to you), would you call it belief? Can you make a decision or definition and then call it a belief?
What if I describe the properties of cats-- furriness, eye shape, meowing sound, selfish behavior. If I see something which matches those properties, do I believe I'm looking at a cat? Can it be said to be true or false that I'm looking at a cat?
