background preloader

Belief

Belief
Belief is a mental representation, treated in various academic disciplines, especially philosophy and psychology, of a sentient being's attitude toward the likelihood or truth of something.[1] From Greek two different concepts are often represented by the concept of belief: Pistis and Doxa. Simplified we may say that the first deals in trust and confidence, the latter in opinion and acceptance. Knowledge and epistemology[edit] The terms belief and knowledge are used differently in philosophy. As a psychological phenomenon[edit] Mainstream psychology and related disciplines have traditionally treated belief as if it were the simplest form of mental representation and therefore one of the building blocks of conscious thought. The concept of belief presumes a subject (the believer) and an object of belief (the proposition). This has important implications for understanding the neuropsychology and neuroscience of belief. Belief-in[edit] Belief-that, delusion[edit] Formation[edit] Desirability Related:  Philosophy

Portal:Science edit The Science Portal Science is formed from methodical study of nature stemming from testable explanations and predictions. An older and closely related current meaning emerged from Aristotle, whereby "science" referred to the body of reliable knowledge that is logically and rationally explained (see "History and etymology" section below). Since classical antiquity, science as knowledge was closely linked to philosophy. Ever-evolving, "science" is, more modernly, a term referring to the pursuit of knowledge, and not the knowledge itself. Currently, there are both hard (e.g, biological psychology) and soft science (e.g., social psychology) fields within the discipline. Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).

To Live at All is Miracle Enough I read Richard Dawkins book ‘Unweaving the Rainbow’ a little while ago and there was a part that really brought me up short with one of those ‘WOW’ moments. It really brings home the sheer unliklihood and odds against any of us actually being born and being able to experience and enjoy this only too brief sojourn on earth. I have been thinking about it quite a bit lately and really wanted to reread it again. Unfortunately I have lent it to a friend and so was having to wait for it to be returned. Excerpt from Chapter I, “The Anaesthetic of Familiarity,”of Richard Dawkins 1998 book Unweaving the Rainbow 'We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Moralists and theologians place great weight upon the moment of conception, seeing it as the instant at which the soul comes into existence. Napoleon started it all. Morris tells how his ancestor's enforced change of career had various knock-on effects culminating in his own interest in natural history.

Knowledge that, knowledge how, and knowledge by acquaintance Epistemology Branch of philosophy concerning knowledge In these debates and others, epistemology aims to answer questions such as "What do people know?", "What does it mean to say that people know something?", "What makes justified beliefs justified?", and "How do people know that they know?"[4][1][5][6] Specialties in epistemology ask questions such as "How can people create formal models about issues related to knowledge?" Etymology[edit] The etymology of the word epistemology is derived from the ancient Greek epistēmē, meaning "knowledge, understanding, skill, scientific knowledge",[7][note 1] and the English suffix -ology, meaning "the science or discipline of (what is indicated by the first element)".[9] The word "epistemology" first appeared in 1847, in a review in New York's Eclectic Magazine : The title of one of the principal works of Fichte is 'Wissenschaftslehre,' which, after the analogy of technology ... we render epistemology.[10] Historical and philosophical context[edit] Knowledge[edit]

Truth Truth is most often used to mean being in accord with fact or reality,[1] or fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal.[1] The commonly understood opposite of truth is falsehood, which, correspondingly, can also take on a logical, factual, or ethical meaning. The concept of truth is discussed and debated in several contexts, including philosophy and religion. Many human activities depend upon the concept, where its nature as a concept is assumed rather than being a subject of discussion; these include most (but not all) of the sciences, law, and everyday life. Definition and etymology[edit] An angel carrying the banner of "Truth", Roslin, Midlothian Thus, 'truth' involves both the quality of "faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty, sincerity, veracity",[6] and that of "agreement with fact or reality", in Anglo-Saxon expressed by sōþ (Modern English sooth). All Germanic languages besides English have introduced a terminological distinction between truth "fidelity" and truth "factuality".

the free encyclopedia Top 100 Western Philosophers: from Ancient to Contemporary Philosophers This article shows the top 100 most important philosophers in the Western civilization from the ancient Greek classics such As Socrates, Plato and Aristotle’s to contemporary philosophers such as Levi-Strauss and Foucault, passing by great masters such as Descartes or Spinoza. What is Philosophy? The word "philosophy" comes from the Greek philosophia, which literally means "love of wisdom". Philosophy can be define as the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Topics The Ancient Philosophers Ancient philosophy is that of the Greco-Roman world from the 6th century BC to the 6th century AD. The most important of the ancient philosophers (in terms of subsequent influence) are Plato and Aristotle. Top Ancient Philosophers The top ancient philosophers include: Thales of Miletos Learn more about Thales. Thales of Miletos - Top 100 Western Philosophers Pythagoras of Samos Learn more about Pythagoras. Heraclites

Justification Counterfactual thinking Counterfactual thinking is a concept in psychology that involves the human tendency to create possible alternatives to life events that have already occurred; something that is contrary to what actually happened. Counterfactual thinking is exactly as it states: "counter to the facts."[1] These thoughts consist of the "What if?" and the "If I had only..." that occur when thinking of how things could have turned out differently. Overview[edit] Counterfactual literally means, contrary to the facts.[2] A counterfactual thought occurs when a person modifies a factual prior event and then assesses the consequences of that change. Counterfactual thoughts have been shown to produce negative emotions, however they may also produce functional or beneficial effects. History[edit] More recently, counterfactual thinking has gained interest from a psychological perspective. Activation[edit] There are two portions to counterfactual thinking. Functional basis[edit] Behavior intention[edit] Types[edit]

Teaching Knowledge Questions In IB Theory Of Knowledge “Knowledge Questions” are a key element of International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge classes. And they can be tricky, both for teachers and students, who have to develop ones throughout the course and particularly for their Oral Presentation. I’ve previously posted about this challenge at The Best Posts On Teaching TOK “Knowledge Questions.” This past year, I tried to refine and simplify how I taught students to develop them, and here’s my simple explanation: Knowledge questions combine a Way of Knowing with an Area of Knowledge, are open-ended, and use Theory of Knowledge vocabulary. Then, students reviewed these materials: Knowledge claims and knowledge questions Knowledge Questions in International Baccalaureate Subjects It seemed to work well.

Reason Psychologists and cognitive scientists have attempted to study and explain how people reason, e.g. which cognitive and neural processes are engaged, and how cultural factors affect the inferences that people draw. The field of automated reasoning studies how reasoning may or may not be modeled computationally. Animal psychology considers the question of whether animals other than humans can reason. Etymology and related words[edit] In the English language and other modern European languages, "reason", and related words, represent words which have always been used to translate Latin and classical Greek terms in the sense of their philosophical usage. The original Greek term was "λόγος" logos, the root of the modern English word "logic" but also a word which could mean for example "speech" or "explanation" or an "account" (of money handled).[7]As a philosophical term logos was translated in its non-linguistic senses in Latin as ratio. Philosophical history[edit] Classical philosophy[edit]

Related: