-PDF Download- From Belief To Understanding EBOOK

Understanding Beliefs

Author: Nils J. Nilsson

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-08-01

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 0262321130

What beliefs are, what they do for us, how we come to hold them, and how to evaluate them. Our beliefs constitute a large part of our knowledge of the world. We have beliefs about objects, about culture, about the past, and about the future. We have beliefs about other people, and we believe that they have beliefs as well. We use beliefs to predict, to explain, to create, to console, to entertain. Some of our beliefs we call theories, and we are extraordinarily creative at constructing them. Theories of quantum mechanics, evolution, and relativity are examples. But so are theories about astrology, alien abduction, guardian angels, and reincarnation. All are products (with varying degrees of credibility) of fertile minds trying to find explanations for observed phenomena. In this book, Nils Nilsson examines beliefs: what they do for us, how we come to hold them, and how to evaluate them. We should evaluate our beliefs carefully, Nilsson points out, because they influence so many of our actions and decisions. Some of our beliefs are more strongly held than others, but all should be considered tentative and changeable. Nilsson shows that beliefs can be quantified by probability, and he describes networks of beliefs in which the probabilities of some beliefs affect the probabilities of others. He argues that we can evaluate our beliefs by adapting some of the practices of the scientific method and by consulting expert opinion. And he warns us about “belief traps”—holding onto beliefs that wouldn't survive critical evaluation. The best way to escape belief traps, he writes, is to expose our beliefs to the reasoned criticism of others.

The Ethics of Belief and Beyond

Author: Sebastian Schmidt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-04-03

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1000062007

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This volume provides a framework for approaching and understanding mental normativity. It presents cutting-edge research on the ethics of belief as well as innovative research beyond the normativity of belief—and towards an ethics of mind. By moving beyond traditional issues of epistemology the contributors discuss the most current ideas revolving around rationality, responsibility, and normativity. The book’s chapters are divided into two main parts. Part I discusses contemporary issues surrounding the normativity of belief. The essays here cover topics such as control over belief and its implication for the ethics of belief, the role of the epistemic community for the possibility of epistemic normativity, responsibility for believing, doxastic partiality in friendship, the structure and content of epistemic norms, and the norms for suspension of judgment. In Part II the focus shifts from the practical dimensions of belief to the normativity and rationality of other mental states—especially blame, passing thoughts, fantasies, decisions, and emotions. These essays illustrate how we might approach an ethics of mind by focusing not only on belief, but also more generally on debates about responsibility and rationality, as well as on normative questions concerning other mental states or attitudes. The Ethics of Belief and Beyond paves the way towards an ethics of mind by building on and contributing to recent philosophical discussions in the ethics of belief and the normativity of other mental phenomena. It will be of interest to upper-level students and researchers working in epistemology, ethics, philosophy of action, philosophy of mind, and moral psychology.

Reasons for Belief

Author: Norman L. Geisler

Publisher: Baker Books

Published: 2013-02-15

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 1441261168

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Trusted Theologian Presents a Case for Christian Faith in Easy-to-Understand Language Seminary professor and bestselling author teams with a seminary-trained apologist and teacher to give readers basic, solid evidence for the Christian faith. This book is ideal for both teens and adults. Lay leaders and teachers as well as students will be equipped to explain the basics of Christianity to unbelievers and new believers. The accessible and topically organized book is easy to understand and use.

The Paradox of False Belief Understanding

Author: Julia Wolf

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2021-11-08

Total Pages: 163

ISBN-13: 311075861X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Our ability to understand others is one of the most central parts of human life, but explaining how this ability develops remains a controversial issue, exercising psychologists and philosophers alike. Within this literature the Paradox of False Belief Understanding remains one of the main open challenges. Based on an up to date overview of the empirical and theoretical literature, this book highlights the significance of this paradox for our understanding of the development of social cognition and provides a new explanation of it in the form of the Situational Mental File Account. Central features of the account are, firstly, identitfying three distinct stages in the development of belief understanding and, secondly, elaborating the role of both cognitive and situational factors as well as their interaction in the development of belief understanding. This account is also applied to the related phenomenon of pretend play, demonstrating the potential for a wider application of the account. This account generates both new empirical predications and a framework for further theoretical work, thereby providing a fruitful ground for further interdisciplinary research in this area.

Understanding the Book of Mormon

Author: Ross Anderson

Publisher: Zondervan

Published: 2009-08-30

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 031059068X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Mormons, or members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, form a growing population in both numbers and influence. Yet few people have more than a passing knowledge of the document that defines and drives this important movement—the Book of Mormon. A former Mormon and an adult convert to Christianity, author Ross Anderson provides a clear summary of the Book of Mormon including its history, teachings, and unique features. Stories from the author and other ex-Mormons illustrate the use of Mormon scripture in the Latter-day Saint church. Anderson gives special attention to how the Book of Mormon relates to Christian beliefs about God, Jesus, and the Bible. With discussion questions to facilitate group use and a focus on providing an accurate portrayal of Mormons beliefs, Understanding the Book of Mormon is an indispensable guide for anyone wishing to become more familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its most formative scripture.

The Understanding of Christian Faith

Author: Schubert M. Ogden

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2010-04-01

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1621892689

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

As an introduction to Christian systematic theology, this volume treats all the main theological topics-from God to last things-seeking to explicate critically the understanding of them implicit in Christian faith itself in terms at once appropriate to Jesus Christ and credible to human existence. Its criteria, accordingly, are the ultimate criteria of on the one hand, specifically Christian experience of Jesus as expressed by the apostolic witness, and on the other hand, generically human experience of existence as expressed by a sound philosophy. And, as befits an introduction, it employs these same criteria to clarify the process of actually doing Christian systematic theology. Thus it begins by explaining both what such a theology has to do and how it is to do it, and ends by considering what it means to do theology as a Christian calling, particularly as a professional theologian.

Faith Seeking Understanding

Author: Daniel L. Migliore

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2004-06-14

Total Pages: 468

ISBN-13: 9780802827876

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Daniel Migliore's Faith Seeking Understanding has been a standard introduction to Christian theology for more than a decade. The book's presentation of traditional doctrine in freshly contemporary ways, its concern to hear and critically engage new voices in theology, and its creative and accessible style have kept it one of the most stimulating, balanced, and readable guides to theology available. This second edition of Faith Seeking Understanding features improvements from cover to cover. Besides updating and expanding the entire text of the book, Migliore has added two completely new chapters. The first, "Confessing Jesus Christ in Context," explores the unique contributions to Christian theology made by recent theologians working in the African American, Asian American, Latin American, Hispanic, feminist, womanist, and mujerista traditions. The second new chapter, "The Finality of Jesus Christ and Religious Pluralism," addresses the growing interest in the relationship of Christianity to other religions and their adherents. Migliore's three delightful theological dialogues are followed by a new appendix, an extensive glossary of theological terms, making the book even more useful to students seeking to understand the history, themes, and challenges of Christian belief.

Mindwise

Author: Nicholas Epley

Publisher: Vintage

Published: 2015-01-06

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 030774356X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Winner of the 2015 Book Prize for the Promotion of Social and Personality Science (Society for Personality and Social Psychology) Why are we sometimes blind to the minds of others, treating them like objects or animals instead? Why do we talk to our cars, or the stars, as if there is a mind that can hear us? Why do we so routinely believe that others think, feel, and want what we do when, in fact, they do not? And why do we think we understand our spouses, family, and friends so much better than we actually do? In this illuminating book, leading social psychologist Nicholas Epley introduces us to what scientists have learned about our ability to understand the most complicated puzzle on the planet—other people—and the surprising mistakes we so routinely make. Mindwise will not turn others into open books, but it will give you the wisdom to revolutionize how you think about them—and yourself.

Understanding Belief, Attitude, and Behavior

Author: Brandt W. Pryor

Publisher:

Published: 2022-02-16

Total Pages: 204

ISBN-13: 9781648026157

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book is a step-by-step guide for correctly applying Fishbein and Ajzen's theories which together form " . . the dominant conceptual framework for predicting, explaining, and changing human social behavior" (Ajzen, 2012). Evaluators and educational researchers, however, have often made less than optimal use of the theory of reasoned action, and the later theory of planned behavior, to understand, measure, and influence beliefs, attitudes, and behavior. This book is written expressly for investigators who are not trained in attitude theory and measurement. It provides examples from the fields of evaluation and educational research at each step, including many from the author's applications. This book offers clear conceptual and operational definitions of belief, attitude, behavior, and other variables that are components of the theories. Figures illustrate relations among the variables. One chapter critically reviews efforts to apply the theories in evaluation and educational research, using positive and negative examples. The author has 30 years' experience in evaluation and research, a doctorate in education, and training in attitude theory and measurement with Martin Fishbein. The author's dissertation study was the first successful application of the theory of reasoned action to the issue of participation in adult education, and prompted others in that field to apply the theory.