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David Hume's Theory Of Evidence Essay

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As David Hume would say, ‘A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence.’ (David Hume, Humanism.org.uk) Evidence is one of the most applied and used ways of justifying a claim or belief. However, the extent to which evidence is required to support our beliefs varies based on whether the evidence provided is subjective or sparse. Beliefs, on the other hand, are assumed truths. A justified true belief refers to a situation where in order for one to know something, he has to believe it and be able to justify it. This could shape the way we think and behave thus influencing our interpretation of the world around us, and how we respond to circumstances in it. In this essay, I will assess the extent to which evidence is needed to support our …show more content…

However, due to it being based on a solid system of numbers, theories and evidence, it does not provide room for human opinions and justifications. This could be due to the fact that it only abides by its fixed set of principles. As proof refers to ‘an argument, which convinces other people that something is true.’ (Michael Hutchings, Introduction to mathematical arguments, 1) Therefore, belief holds a lower rank as compared to proof. This will be further elaborated through the examples of conjectures, axioms and …show more content…

In some religions, many accounts of people who have experienced miracles, near death experiences or even back to life experiences have been documented. Miracles refer to ‘something, which cannot be explained by natural or scientific laws.’ (Nicholas Alchin, 125) It is through miracles that people are able to have a first hand experience, which can strongly be used as evidence towards a religious belief. For example, the bible recounts that by Moses plunging his staff into the red sea, it will part, allowing everyone to pass through it. As the laws of science are unable to explain the reason as to the parting of the red sea, this would definitely be a

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In Lara Buchak’s essay, Can It Be Rational to Have Faith? , she asserts that everyday faith statements and religious faith statements share the same attributes. She later states that in order to truly have faith, a person ceases to search for more evidence for their claim, and that having faith can be rational. Although she makes compelling arguments in favor of faith in God, this essay is more hearsay and assumption than actual fact. In this paper, you will see that looking for further evidence would constitute not having faith, but that having faith, at least in the religious sense, is irrational.

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Answer – Phyllis Tickle borrows an amazing analogy from an Anglican bishop named Mark Dryer to describe an occurrence that happens around every 500 years in the church; in which, the changes of the culture forces the church evaluate beliefs and doctrines (Tickle 152). Specifically, Tickle says, “It is the business of any rummage sale first to remove all of the old treasures that belonged to one’s parents so as to get on with the business of keeping house the new way” (Tickle 535-536). Her point can be seen in the example of the church teaching the earth was flat and the center of the universe, only to find out through Copernicus’ theory; and the later the sailing of Columbus, that the earth is round and not the center of the universe (Tickle

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Faith and reason are thought to be foundations of defense for religious beliefs, having the same purpose many theologians and philosophers argue their relationship. Many believing that reason relies on faith while others think that just because you do not believe in one you are going to believe in the other, Karen Armstrong would agree since she suggests that they are not like political parties. Many theorists believe that reason is more on the logical side of the spectrum while faith is directed towards your beliefs and understandings of religious and theological claims. While scientists have argued they are not compatible because reason by itself gives us the answers to human life and faith is not a reliable source to provide us with those answers. Terry Eagleton suggests that they are one in the same and rely on each other.

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By viewing things from such perspective, we may be able say instinct could be considered as factor that led

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A successful argument is logically and factually strong. Barry Stroud’s Cartesian Skeptical argument is logically and factually strong - it uses a modus ponens argument form. First I will explain his argument (Car-Skep) in support of his view demonstrating our lack of knowledge of the external world and then I will explain his argument in support of a controversial premise in (Car-Skep). I will explain both arguments, state why Car-Skep is cogent/successful, state an argument made by a critic, defend Stroud’s Car-Skep argument with the inclusion of supporting arguments made by other philosophers. Stroud’s argument is successful because it is one that is logically and factually strong.

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Clifford argues that all beliefs must be justified. In his writing, The Ethics of Belief, Clifford states that “it is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe in anything upon insufficient evidence” (Clifford 5). Clifford means that it is morally wrong to believe something without sufficient evidence. This can be a problem when one examines the very definition of belief. A belief is a thought, which may have a foundation in reality, but does not require it.

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In this essay, Elbow leans towards the believing game and tries to persuade the reader to leave the doubting game behind. Elbow states rules for each game that are used to form a plausible conclusion. The

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ID: 000883370 537 Words Pascal suggests that the faith in believing God is a "wager". For any person S, he or she has two choices can be made. One choice is α, the other is β, and if α is chosen to have a greater benefit for S, S should choose α. Taking into account the existence of God or not has half of the possibility, and believing God has greater benefit. Therefore, people should choose to believe in the existence of God.

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In the 1963 philosophy paper titled “Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?”, Edmund Gettier attempts to deconstruct and disprove the philosophical argument that justified true belief is knowledge. Justified true belief, also commonly referred to as JTB, is used as a certain set of conditions that are used to explain someone s knowing some sort of proposition p. More specifically, JTB is used to say that s has knowledge of p if and only if p is true, s believes that p is true, and s is justified in believing that p is true. Gettier offers main points as the conclusion of his argument against this claim. First, he states that s can be justified in believing that p is true while p is actually false.

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Justified, true belief knowledge is only real if there is no conceivable doubt, but nothing can truly be inconceivable fact. In “Mediation I: What can be Called into Doubt”, Descartes tries to find solutions to this, but he only raises more questions about the world. Skepticism arises to challenge the idea of a perfect knowledge and to question the human mind and the world. Descartes reflects on the countless falsehoods he believed that became his knowledge about the world and wipes everything out of his mind to begin anew. Descartes starts with the foundations of knowledge, deciding only to accept opinions as truths when there isn't any conceivable doubt in his mind.

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William K. Clifford’s “The Ethics of Belief” is an essay about justification and how we are morally required to prove our beliefs. Clifford’s theory throughout the essay was “It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence.” Clifford thinks that it is a moral obligation for you to confirm each of your beliefs with sufficient proof, no matter how questionable or insignificant the beliefs may be. I believe he thinks this because beliefs have serious effects and consequences on others.

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Descartes and Hume. Rationalism and empiricism. Two of the most iconic philosophers who are both credited with polarizing theories, both claiming they knew the answer to the origin of knowledge and the way people comprehend knowledge. Yet, despite the many differences that conflict each other’s ideologies, they’re strikingly similar as well. In this essay I will attempt to find an understanding of both rationalism and empiricism, show the ideologies of both philosophers all whilst evaluating why one is more theory is potentially true than the other.

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In addition, the next psychological factors, beliefs. From doing and learning, people will also obtain beliefs and attitudes. Belief is a descriptive thought that a person has about something such as iPhone. For example, if we saw many people use Apple brand things such as iPhone, they will give their own opinion about iPhone. If the opinion is good, we will believe and also use iPhone.

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These experiences are concerned with three topics. 1) “Similarly between religious experiences and how do they support the existence of God? 2) What philosophical problems are there that these experiences can give us knowledge about God? 3) Is there alternative explanation for experience?” William James described religious experiences as the heart of every religion.

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One of the most interesting subjects that depicts many explanations about human behavior is psychology. Every human being tends to have a distinct behavior, depending on the situation that he or she was exposed to. The presence of other human beings cause the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of the person to be controlled or influenced. There is a considerable amount of factors in which the actions of human beings around them are responsible for the process of making their decisions.

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