Belief

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(be andlyian, to hold dear).

That state of themind by which it assents to propositions, not by reason of their intrinsic evidence, but because of authority.

Though the term is commonly used in ordinary language, as well as in muchphilosophical writing, to cover a great many states ofmind, the quasi-definition advanced is probably the best calculated to differentiate belief from all other forms ofmental assent. In framing it, respect is paid to the motive of the assent rather than to itsnature; for, sinceintellectual assent is of itsnature simple and indivisible, nodifferentiae proximae can be assigned by which it could be separated into variousspecies. As the objects of belief, also, are of anature similar to those ofknowledge, opinion, anddoubt, so, again, no criterion of division can be found in them (as in the case of the objects of separate faculties) to distinguish it from othermental states.

St. Thomas Aquinas qualifies his definition offaith with the addition of the note ofcertainty (Summa, I-II, Q. i, a. 4). Though he treats offaith as atheologicalvirtue in the article cited, his words may well be extended to include belief as a purely natural state of themind.

It will thus be seen to coverintellectual assent totruths accepted on authority eitherhuman orDivine. In the former case belief may be designated by the synonymcredence; in the latter the more usual term isfaith.

Often, also, belief is used in the sense offiducia, or trust; and this especially inProtestanttheology as a substitute forfaith.

By the definition given above we are enabled to distinguish belief

Belief, however, as has already been noted, is often indiscriminatingly used for these and for other states ofmind from which for the sake of accuracy it should be as carefully distinguished as is possible. Though we mayknow a thing and at the same time believe it (as in the case of theexistence of God, which is a natural verity as well as arevealedtruth), it is in the interest of clearness that we should keep to the distinction drawn and not confound belief andknowledge, because of the fact that the sametruth may simultaneously be the object of both.

But there is another very general use of the term belief in which it is taken to designate assent complete enough to exclude any practicaldoubt and yet distinguishable from the assent ofknowledge. In this use no account is taken of authority. We have many convictions resting upon evidence that is not sufficiently clearly presented to ourmind to enable us to say weknow, but abundantly sufficient for us to produce a practically unqualified assent.

While this would seem to fall under theScholastic head of opinion, it is the point about which has turned the controversy that has been waged since David Hume brought the question into prominence upon thephilosophic issue. Briefly, to select a certain number of typical writers for examination, the issues involved are these. How far do we believe--in the sense of trusting ournatural faculties in their reports and judgments; and in how far can we be said toknow? Hume, in accordance with his sensistic principles, would restrict ourknowledge to purely idealtruths. We are capable of knowing, according to the Scotch sceptic, such ideal principles as those of mathematics, together with the conclusions that are derived from them. But our attribution of an objective reality to what we imagine to be the causes of sensations is a belief. So also are such judgments as that of the principle ofcausality. We cannot be said toknow, but to believe, that there is actually such a relation as that of effect to cause. We believe this, and other similartruths, because of a peculiar character of vivacity, solidity, firmness, or steadiness attaching to our conceptions of them. The division is an arbitrary one and the explanation offered as to thenature of belief unsatisfactory and insufficient.

Similarly, James Mill would have the assent given to the objective reality of beings a belief. With him the occasion of the belief is theassociation of ideas; or, rather, as he wrongly states it, theassociation of ideas is the belief. If belief is a state ofmind at all, it can scarcely be described as anassociation of ideas. Such an association could at most be considered as acause of the belief.

John Stuart Mill in his note to his father's Analysis, makes belief a primitive fact. It is impossible toanalyze it.

Locke, though he deals at length with belief, does not try toanalyze it or do more than assign objects to it and investigate the grounds of credibility.

Alexander Bain originally held belief to be a function of the will rather than a state of theintellect. In his opinion it was the development of the will under the pursuit of immediate ends. Later he modified this opinion, and, while retaining the essentially volitional and emotional character, or tendency, as causes, relegated the act of belief itself to theintellectual part ofman'snature.

Father Masher, S.J., whose admirable treatment of the whole subject ought to be consulted, advances an acute criticism of Dr. Bain's position. He points out

A not inconsiderable part of the "Grammar of Assent" is concerned with this subject, though hardly dealing with the problem on the foregoing lines. In his treatment of "Simple Assent", and especially in sections 4 and 5 ofChapter iv, Par. 1,Cardinal Newman's view can be found. He calls the notional assent that we give to first principles presumption. We cannot be said to trust our powers of reasoning ormemory as faculties, though we may be supposed to have a trust in any one of their particular acts. That externalnature exists is a first principle and is founded upon aninstinct. The use of the term is justified by the consideration that the brute creation also possesses it. Further, "the belief in causation" is one of these presumptions, the assent to it notional. But, on the other hand, "we believe without anydoubt that we exist; that we have an individual identity all our own;. . .that we have a present sense ofgood andevil, of a right and a wrong. . ." Again: "Assent on reasonings not demonstrative is too widely recognized an act to be irrational, unlessman'snature is irrational, too familiar to theprudent and clear minded to be an infirmity or an extravagance."

It will be noted thatNewman

Of Germanphilosophers who have treated this topic, Germar, Fechner, and Ulrici may be consulted. The first limits belief to aconscious assent arising from fact; that is, an assent given withoutconsciousness of its causes or grounds. In the case where the causes or grounds become actual factors in theconsciousness, the belief rises to the dignity ofknowledge.Kant's view naturally has belief as the necessitated result of the practicalreason. It is to be consideredepistemologically rather than psychologically. We believe in suchtruths as are necessitated by the exigencies of ourmoralnature. And thesetruths havenecessary validity on account of the requirements of thatmoralnature. We need motives upon which to act. Such beliefs are practical and lead to action. All naturaltruths that we accept on belief might conceivably be accepted astruths ofknowledge. The implicit may unfold and become explicit. This frequently happens in ordinary experience. Evidence may be adduced toprove assertions. Similarly, anytruth ofknowledge may be accepted as belief. What is said to be known to oneindividual may be, and often is, accepted upon his testimony by another.

A great variety of factors may play their part in the genesis of belief. We are accustomed to assent to propositions that we cannot be said toknow, on account of many different causes. Some of them are often inadequate and even frivolous. We frequently discover that our beliefs rest on no stable foundation, that they must be reconstructed or done away with altogether. The ordinary reasons upon which belief may be based can be reduced to two: testimony and the partial evidence of reason. A third class of causes of belief is sometimes added. Feeling, desire, and the wish to believe have been noted as antecedent causes of the act of assent. But that feeling, desire, or the wish to believe is a direct antecedent is open to discussion. It cannot be denied that many so-called beliefs, more properly described, perhaps, as trust or hope, have their immediate origin in feelings or wishes; but, as a rule, they seem not to be capable of bearing any real strain; whereas we are accustomed to consider that belief is one of the most unchangeable ofmental states. Where these antecedents work indirectly through the election of the will, to which reference is made below, belief may issue as a firm and certain assent.

(1) Testimony is a valid and satisfactory cause of assent provided it possess thenecessary note of authority, which is the sole direct antecedent of the ensuing belief. Our ultimate witness mustknow his facts ortruths and be veracious in his presentation of them. Intermediated witnesses must have accurately preserved the form of the original testimony. In the case of human testimony the ordinary rules ofprudence will naturally be applied before giving credence to its statements. Once, however, the question ofknowledge andveracity is settled, belief may validly issue and an assent be given as to acertainty. Of course there is room also fordoubt or for opinion, as the credentials of the authority itself may very almost indefinitely. But there is a further class oftruths believed upon testimony that does not fall within the scope of natural investigation and inquiry. The supersensible, supraintellectualtruths of revelation, at any rate in the present state of man's existence, cannot be said to be assented to either on account of anintuition of their nature or because of any strict process of demonstration of their validity. They are neither evident in themselves nor in their principles. The assent to suchtruths is of the same nature as that given totruths believed naturally. Only here the authority motivating it is not human but Divine. Acts of assent on such authority are known as acts offaith and, theologically speaking, connote the assistance of grace. They are, none the less,intellectual acts, in the eliciting of which the will has its part to play, just as are those in which assent is given to the authoritative utterances of credible human witnesses. With regard to the nature of this authority upon which suchsupernaturaltruths are assented to infaith, it is sufficient to indicate thatGod'sknowledge isinfinite and Hisveracity absolute.

(2) The partial evidence of reason has already been touched upon. It may be note, however, that the evidence may be relative either relatively or absolutely. In the first case we may have recourse to the authority of those whoknow for our belief or base it for ourselves upon such evidence as is forthcoming. In the second, as is the case with much of the teaching ofscience and philosophy, the wholehuman race can have no more than a strictly so-called belief in it. Probable opinions, conjectures, obscured or partially recalled memories, or anytruths or facts of which we have not a consciously evidential grasp, are the main objects of a belief resultant upon partial evidence. In this its distinction fromknowledge lies. We are said toknowintuitionaltruths as well as all those that are indirectly evident in their principles. Weknow all facts andtruths of our own personal experience, whether of consciousness or of objective nature. Similarly, weknow thetruth of the reports of memory that come clearly and distinctly into into consciousness. Nor is itnecessary, with Hamilton, to have recourse to an initial belief or trust as implied in allknowledge. We cannot properly be said to trust our faculties. We do not believe evidenttruth.

(3) With the two immediate causes of belief already noted, the action of the will must also be alluded to. Under this head emotion, feeling, and desire may conveniently be grouped, since they play an important, though indirect, part in motiving assents through the election of the will and so causing belief. The action of the will referred to is observed especially in a selection of the data to be examined and approved by theintellect. Where there are several sets of evidences or partial arguments, for and against, the will is said to cause belief in the sense of directing theintellect to examine the particular set of evidences or arguments in favour of the resultant assent and to neglect all that might be urged against it. In this case, however, the belief can easily be referred to the partial evidence of reason, in that as a rational, rather than a volitional act, it is due to the actual considerations before the mind. Whether these arevoluntarily restricted or incomplete from the very nature of the case, does not alter the fact that the assent is given because of the partial evidence they furnish. Infaith the meritorious nature of the act of belief is referred to this elective action of the will.

The effects of belief may be summed up generally under the head of action or movement, though all beliefs are not of their nature operative. Indeed, it would seem to depend more on the nature of the content of the belief than upon the act of believing. As with certaintruths ofknowledge, there are beliefs that leave us unmoved and even tend to restrict and prevent rather than instigate to action. The distinction drawn between the assents ofknowledge and belief cannot be said to be observed at all closely in practice, where they are frequently confused. It is none the less undoubtedly felt to exist, and, upon analysis of the antecedents, the one can readily be distinguished from the other. It is found that most of the practical affairs of ordinary life depend entirely upon beliefs. In the vast majority of cases in which action is called for it is impossible to have strictly so-calledknowledge upon which to act. In such cases belief readily supplies its place, growing stronger as it is justified by the event. Without it, as a practical incentive to action and a justification of it, social intercourse would be an impossibility. Such things as our estimates of the character of our friends, of the probity of those with whom we transact business, are examples of the beliefs that play so large and sonecessary a part in our lives. In their own subject-matter they are on a par with the reasonable beliefs ofscience and philosophy--founded, as are hypotheses and theories, upon practically sufficient, yet indemonstrative and incomplete data.

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