CFI-Brooklyn Philosophy and Fries: Belief
Join CFI's Brooklyn Meetup for the next installation of Philosophy and Fries . What do we know about belief? As it stands, we still have not gathered why exactly our brain takes some propositions as true, and others as false. Yet this does not mean belief is a pointless topic of discussion.
One definition for belief we can use here is given by author Sam Harris in his 2004 book End of Faith . Harris states that "beliefs are attempts to represent states of the world." So, for instance, I would believe a proposition such as "the wine glass in front of me is empty" if I could indeed see the wine glass in front of me, and see that it is empty. My belief is thus a consequence of the way the world is.
This, Harris argues, must leave a person open to new evidence. Therefore, wine being poured into the glass must change my belief about the amount of wine in that glass. This means that "if there were no conceivable change in the world that could get a person to question his beliefs, this would prove that his (Harris argues religious, in this case) beliefs were not predicated upon his taking any state of the world into account. He could not claim, therefore, to be representing the world at all."
Is Harris right? Are beliefs "attempts to represent states of the world"? Or is there another, better definition? What sorts of beliefs exist in the world today? Must they be falsifiable? Must they logically cohere? And where does knowledge -- defined by ancient Greeks as "justified true belief" -- come into play?
As you can see, there is much more to discuss. In the coming weeks, I will post a lengthier essay on belief to help us prepare for the discussion. Then, on Jan. 13, armed with evolutionary biologist and philosopher Massimo Pigliucci, we will discuss all of this, and more. This will be the second meeting of Philosophy and Fries, one event of many from CFI-Brooklyn.
The Park Plaza Restaurant is a Brooklyn Heights-located diner with lots of space, fairly priced food, and beer, wine and cocktails. To get there:
Park Plaza Restaurant, 220 Cadman Plz W
A or C to High Street
2 or 3 to Clark Street
4, 5, M or R to Court Street, Borough Hall
Learn more here:
http://www.meetup.com/cfibrooklyn/calendar/9114853/
