|
ASK A QUESTION
RECENT RESPONSES
CONCEPT CLOUD
CATEGORIES
|
Questions in Mind
(133)
click to expand
|
When we deliberate, we often make note of pertinent constraints as we form our opinion. For instance, a jury member might arrive at a different recommendation than she would have ...
November 19, 2009
|
|
As someone who is clinically depressed, I have often wondered: philosophically speaking, is trying to treat depression wrong? People are depressed for a reason, possibly because life's pretty damned depressing ...
November 17, 2009
|
|
Does it make sense to talk of unconscious IDEAS? I know psychoanalysts often talk of unconscious ideas, but am puzzled by their supposed status. Many of our physiological processes are ...
November 5, 2009
|
|
Do some people believe their own lies?
November 5, 2009
|
|
Since intelligence is defined as a person's 'mental capacity', and what might be seen as 'mental capacity' to one person might be very different to another person depending on their ...
July 27, 2009
|
|
Is there a difference between the words and expressions a person uses to say what he/she believes, and the beliefs themselves? Is one more important than the other?
June 28, 2009
|
|
I have read some recent material about dreams that seems to say Freud got it wrong. If my understanding is correct, dreaming is a by-product of moving information from short ...
July 7, 2009
|
|
I may want to go to the kitchen because there is some food there and I want to eat. (Suppose that.) One of these desires is a "fundamental" desire (I ...
June 18, 2009
|
|
Can dogs lie? Our dog will 'pretend' to bark at something outside the house when it is near time for her meal or she has not been for a walk. ...
May 24, 2009
|
|
Can the mind "feel" things even though nothing has happened? If so how does this work? For example, someone swung a textbook at my head playfully, and even though he ...
November 22, 2005
|
|
PANELISTS
RETIRED PANELISTS (show)
RELATED SITES
|
Nice question. I suggest that cases like the one you consider do show that in some sense we can control what we believe. The important thing is the 'in some sense' qualification. Many philosophers have argued that we can't "directly" change our beliefs at will. For instance, even if you threaten me with death, I won't be able immediately and just as a matter of will to make myself believe that the Earth is flat. I'd at least have to do something more roundabout, such as surround myself with a bunch of flat-earthers, ignore contrary evidence, and so on. Similarly, I might have to go to some efforts to ignore a piece of testimony, perhaps with the aid of hypnosis or of someone who could make that testimony look specious.
More generally, then, I would suggest that we can indirectly control what we believe if we are determined to do so: If for instance I am convinced by Pascal's "Wager" argument that it's reasonable to believe in God, I won't be able to become a theist just by snapping my fingers. However, if I surround myself with believers, listen to a lot of Creed or Lifehouse, and ignore the various skeptical challenges to theism, I'll have a good chance of cultivating belief after a while. As William James once said, after a while, belief will come and "stupefy your scruples."
Mitch Green