(December 16, 2019 at 6:39 pm)LadyForCamus Wrote:(December 11, 2019 at 12:11 am)maxolla Wrote: I guess I haven’t considered reasonable belief as a category apart from certainty. I think the point is that belief is chosen and not necessarily based on complete evidence.
I would argue the opposite is true. Belief is (or should be) borne of one’s confidence level in the truth of a proposition. If there is substantial evidence in support of a particular truth claim, then my confidence level in that truth claim will be high, and belief is generated. I cannot choose to believe in god any more than you can choose to believe in Santa Clause.
I think we agree. Belief is chosen through faith in experiences, knowledge, and evidence gathered. What an individual considers sufficient evidence is where we start to differ. We both could agree that what we call wind exists. We can feel the effects of it but we can’t see it. There is some evidence missing regarding wind (sight). We still choose to believe it exists because we can see the effects of the wind and feel it. Your belief in science and mine in creation are similar. There is evidence for both but the argument always goes to what evidence is.