PERSPECTIVES ON THE CONCEPT OF BELIEF

Everyone believes something. Belief is the logical and epistemic prelude to knowledge; but belief should be governed by evidence rather than by fantasy or by transcendent faith. Concepts and truth serve as background to definitions of belief and of knowledge as true belief justified by relevant evidence. Ethical theory and practice also demand similar validation. Science is regarded as the paradigm with its hypothetical-deductive method and its reliance on induction and deduction in the quest for truth. History provides important lessons in living but it languishes from the blemish of doubt due to biased relating and interpreting of consequential facts. We all believe in the elusive self to the unfortunate point of egocentrism narcissism and self-deception. I discuss all the above aspects of belief and its psychology in this book.