Section 6.3Faith and Meaning

Believing the Unbelievable

The Leap of Faith

• “Faith,” by definition, is “belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.”

• Kierkegaard argues that belief in the Christian God must be a matter of faith because the notion of an immortal being becoming mortal is absurd.

Kierkegaard on Belief

• Kierkegaard claims that you can make something objectively true by believing it passionately enough.

• Objection: This is self-contradictory—a proposition and its negation could be believed passionately by different people, but both propositions couldn’t be true.

Evidentialism

• Evidentialism holds that only beliefs based on evidence can be justified.

• Some go further and claim that you have a moral obligation to proportion your belief to the evidence.

Clifford and Huxley on Belief

• “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone to believe anything on insufficient evidence.” –W. K. Clifford

• “It is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty.” –T. H. Huxley

Thought Probe: Blanshard’s Beliefs

• Are Blanshard and Clifford correct in claiming that our duty to proportion our beliefs to the evidence is absolute?

• Can you think of a counterexample, a case where it would not be right to proportion your belief to the evidence?

• Should people who don’t proportion their belief to the evidence be ashamed of themselves? Why or why not?

The Will to Believe

• When one must choose between two important beliefs that have equal evidential support, it is permissible to believe one or the other even though neither is justified, for believing it may help bring it about.

• Objection: Belief doesn’t bring about changes in others; behavior does.

The Meaning of Life

• Some believe that our lives can be meaningful if and only if they are part of a divine plan.

Thought Experiment: God’s Plan

• Suppose that God created us to serve as food for some more advanced creatures.

• Would it make our lives meaningful to be eaten by those creatures?

Existentialism

• According to Existentialism, “existence precedes essence.” Humans exist prior to and independently of any notion of who they are or what they should do.

• Humans define themselves and create their own meaning by making choices.

Religion Without God

• Those who have a religious orientation toward life share four characteristics:– A sense of the numinous.– Deep feelings of love, joy, and peace.– A distaste of vanity and greed.– A desire to help others.

• One need not believe in God to have these characteristics.