How do we know we believe things?

Question

This is my first philosophy question, so please bear with me.

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Wikipedia says belief is

Belief is the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the case, with or without there being empirical evidence to prove that something is the case with factual certainty.

When we believe something, how do we know we believe it? For example, let's say I believe that there is a keyboard I'm typing on right now. Even though I may not have complete justification for it, I still believe it. But how do I know I believe it? The definition of belief is "an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists.". How do I know I accept something? You could say something like "because I accept it", but that doesn't really answer the question (how do you know you accept it?).

I know this question sounds a little stupid, but I can't seem to really find an answer. Thanks.

Answer 1

Ned Block makes a distinction between mental states which he calls "P-conscious" and those which he calls "A-conscious." The former includes what one normally thinks of as "what-it's-like" phenomenology such as colors, sounds, tastes, etc. The second category is a different type of consciousness which includes beliefs and similar mental states:

"The paradigm P-conscious states are sensations, whereas the paradigm A-conscious states are 'propositional attitude' states like thoughts, beliefs, and desires, states with representational content expressed by 'that' clauses." Ned Block ("On a confusion about a function of consciousness")

The term A-conscious derives from the fact that Block speaks of these mental states as "access consciousness." They are characterized as such because we access them for the rational control of thoughts and actions.

Since beliefs are mental states which make up our consciousness, we know we believe because we experience it in a similar way that we experience thoughts and desires. Visual experience, for example, is usually accompanied by a belief or certainty that what we are seeing is real. That sense of certainty is a-consciousness accompanying the phenomenal experience of vision. We know it because we experience it in a qualitative way. It's a certain sense of presence that we become aware of in our interaction with objective reality.

Answer 2

The answer isn't in what you think, it's in what you do. How do you know you believe a keyboard is in front of you and produces letters when you type with it? It's because you interact with the keyboard as if that were true. Similarly, once you've come to know other objects based on certain criteria, you will interact with them based on your belief (understanding) of them.

Answer 3

You believe in such a thing cause you value it. Even though you can’t see it, you can feel it. You can’t see oxygen, but you BELIEVE you are inhaling it with each breath you take if not not you know you’ll die! You can’t see the wind, but you can feel it. You can’t see Wifi, but you Believe it exist cause you either have bars on your phone for indication or you see the green lights on your modem. Everything you can’t see can be proven by the things you can see! Believing is seeing not seeing to believe!T-Lynn!!

Answer 4

My definition of belief is that I can prove it to myself. Regardless of the quality of who accepts the proof as true seems to be the case that if I can't prove it I can't believe it. There's the reality that we humam beings can trick other's into thinking that we believe something while there's no real conviction if no true proof is present. That's just pretending to believe. There's something called lying as we all know.