"Faith is, I suppose, a rough synonym for belief, with an additional connotation that this belief is not grounded on anything. This is a difficult concept to take seriously from a philosophical point of view. Obviously if one has it, one finds it convincing. If one doesn’t, it’s hard to know how to understand the conviction, since no reasons can be offered for it. The difficulty is exacerbated by the variety of objects of faith that are on offer. How does one decide whether to be more impressed by the convinced Christian or the convinced Muslim? Or, for that matter, the person equally convinced of the healing powers of crystals or that faith can move mountains? If there are no reasons for adopting these systems of belief, it seem impossible for there to be any reason for choosing between them. My own response is, I hardly need say, not to take very seriously. It is one thing to admit that our knowledge of the universe is extremely limited, but a counsel of despair to respond to this by believing whatever we feel like."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
University of Cambridge alumniPhilosophers from EnglandUniversity of Oxford facultyUniversity of Oxford alumniStanford University faculty
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chapter 4, “Human Origins and the Decline of Theism” (p. 45)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Dupr%C3%A9
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
John Dupré
13 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by John Dupré →
Related Quotes
"Empiricism provides the standard to which beliefs should answer. If we are capable of finding out what kind of world …"
"Obviously enough, we cannot decide what evolution entails without a fairly sharp conception of what it is."
"The main point I want to make in this chapter is that prior to the development of a convincing theory of evolution th…"
"I should mention the possibility that there are moral rather than empirical reasons that favor religious belief. It i…"
"Religious difference, arguably, remains the most effective basis for defending boundaries between them and us, and th…"
"One commonly held ideal of a possible good life is one spent in adoration of or service to the Supreme Being. It is h…"
"The main point, which would perhaps be unnecessary to labour if it were not so controversial and if it had not been d…"
"Whatever the unique features of humans may be, there are realms of behaviour for which the similarities between ourse…"
"The limits of a creature’s consciousness are closely related to its particular set of capacities. As I shall elaborat…"
"Darwin and his intellectual descendants have provided us with fundamental insight into the nature of the world we liv…"