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Single Idea 9100

[filed under theme 11. Knowledge Aims / A. Knowledge / 4. Belief / c. Aim of beliefs ]

Full Idea

Our intellect does not assent to anything unless we believe it to be true.

Gist of Idea

Our intellect only assents to what we believe to be true

Source

William of Ockham (Prologue to Ordinatio [1320], Q 1 N sqq)

Book Ref

Ockham,William of: 'Ockham's Philosophical Writings', ed/tr. Boehner,P [Hackett 1990], p.18


A Reaction

This strikes me as being a much more accurate and commonsense view of belief than that of Hume, who simply views it phenomenologically. ...But then the remark appears to be circular. Belief requires a belief that it is true. Hm.


The 26 ideas with the same theme [the purpose or aim of beliefs]:

It is impossible to believe something which is held to be false [Plato]
Opinion is praised for being in accordance with truth [Aristotle]
No one has mere belief about something if they think it HAS to be true [Aristotle]
We aim to dissolve our fears, by understanding their causes [Epicurus]
Our intellect only assents to what we believe to be true [William of Ockham]
The feeling of belief shows a habit which will determine our actions [Peirce]
We are entirely satisfied with a firm belief, even if it is false [Peirce]
We want true beliefs, but obviously we think our beliefs are true [Peirce]
A mere question does not stimulate a struggle for belief; there must be a real doubt [Peirce]
A 'belief' is a habit which determines how our imagination and actions proceed [Peirce]
We act on 'full belief' in a crisis, but 'opinion' only operates for trivial actions [Peirce]
Every belief is a considering-something-true [Nietzsche]
Moore's Paradox: you can't assert 'I believe that p but p is false', but can assert 'You believe p but p is false' [Moore,GE, by Lowe]
Beliefs are maps by which we steer [Ramsey]
The belief that fire burns is like the fear that it burns [Wittgenstein]
Don't reject opinions; arrange them all in a hierarchy [Weil]
Our beliefs are about things, not propositions (which are the content of the belief) [Searle]
A belief is a commitment to truth [Searle]
We can't understand something as a lie if beliefs aren't commitment to truth [Searle]
We strongly desire to believe what is true, even though logic does not require it [Harman]
Maybe knowledge is belief which 'tracks' the truth [Nozick, by Williams,M]
To 'accept' a theory is not to believe it, but to believe it empirically adequate [Fraassen, by Bird]
Belief aims at knowledge (rather than truth), and mere believing is a kind of botched knowing [Williamson]
Our beliefs are meant to fit the world (i.e. be true), where we want the world to fit our desires [Engel]
If the only aim is to believe truths, that justifies recklessly believing what is unsupported (if it is right) [Conee/Feldman]
Some claim that indicative conditionals are believed by people, even though they are not actually held true [Horsten]