Timeline for Who‘s to say that beliefs held because of rational reasons are indeed more justified than beliefs held because of emotional ones
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
9 events
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| Aug 10 at 4:44 | comment | added | Rushi | Whenever two people meet, there are really six people present. There is each man as he sees himself, each man as the other person sees him, and each man as he really is — William James | |
| Aug 9 at 4:34 | comment | added | NotThatGuy | @Rushi There are certainly those who try to use reason for emotional affairs. There are also those using emotion when reason is more appropriate, such as with epistemology (i.e. what this question is about). If someone's using emotion instead of reason for epistemology, and they try to defend that by saying "I have a good heart", then I will strongly object/disagree (as argued above). And you don't need to be an "intellectual" to think about why you believe what you believe, and to try to make sure you believe things for good reasons. | |
| Aug 9 at 3:52 | comment | added | Rushi | @ScottRowe I think you and "Notthatguy" are mis-hearing my "good heart" comment. I was using it as a typical self-identification. ie. Those who self-identify as rational are likely to call some they disapprove of as emotional. Those so-called emotional persons are likely to self-identify differently. eg. I have a good heart is fairly typical but hardly special. I care about others I am a doer not an intellectual and many such are possible | |
| Aug 8 at 9:53 | comment | added | NotThatGuy | @Rushi ... I mean, I also wouldn't say they necessarily have a bad heart. They may have the best of intentions, but they are misled by false beliefs. My issue is with saying those people are the ones with more of a "good heart" than those who approach epistemology through rationality (if you were saying that). If anything, one might say we have some epistemic moral responsibility, that we should try to use the most reliable epistemic methods, and that causing needless harm because we failed to reflect on our epistemology and on our beliefs is a moral failing. | |
| Aug 8 at 9:45 | comment | added | NotThatGuy | @Rushi We're talking about epistemology here, not morality. Step 1: What is true? Step 2: What do you do about it? If you're coming to beliefs using unreliable emotion-based methods, your beliefs are unlikely to be true. Many kids have been traumatised a great deal by parents telling them they'll be tortured for all of eternity if they step out of line, and that their friends will be tortured for all of eternity (many have also faced much worse). If that isn't actually true, then that's just an atrocious thing for a parent to do - I certainly wouldn't say they "have a good heart" in such cases | |
| Aug 8 at 9:03 | comment | added | Rushi | The stated question is one based on rationality vs emotionality, the real issue (IMHO) is that one club calls their decision criterion rationality, another calls it having a good heart, etc. Ultimately since there is no common club to which all humans belong this will not resolve | |
| Aug 8 at 8:55 | comment | added | NotThatGuy | @Rushi You are the "certifier" of your own epistemology. If we're talking about trusting authorities or experts, you can look at scientists and you can look at theologians and you can look at others, and you can consider the reliability of the conclusions those groups have produced (especially in terms of consensus), and you can consider the methods each use and try to see why or how those methods may or may not be reliable. | |
| Aug 8 at 8:33 | comment | added | Rushi | «If our primary epistemological concern is to believe true things, then I'd argue we should stick to methods that can be shown to be reliable» Lets state that more sharply: «If my primary epistemological concern is to believe true things, then I would stick to methods that can be shown to be reliable» And right there we have a circularity: how to certify the certifier? A may say a science degree is a certificate, B may prefer a Bible hermeneuticist. | |
| Aug 8 at 6:47 | history | answered | NotThatGuy | CC BY-SA 4.0 |