The Compatibility Of Faith And Essay Research free essay sample

The Compatibility Of Faith And Essay, Research Paper The Compatibility of Faith and Reason When comparing the two choices by W.K. Clifford and William James on the compatibility of religion and ground, I feel that both statements make really valid points. However I do believe, after careful reading and based on my ain experience, that William James has the stronger statement. William James The Will to Believe claims that Our passional nature non merely legitimately may, but must, make up ones mind an option between propositions, whenever it is a echt option that can non by it s nature be decided on rational evidences. James contention is that under certain fortunes, it is absolutely legal for a individual to travel in front and believe something for which scientific grounds is missing. To make so is non unreasonable. This statement makes itself utile in the spiritual hypothesis for the being of God. James, himself, believed that there is a Greater Consciousness than that of human existences to which we are connected. Among other things, this Greater Consciousness cares about and conserves many of the things that we hold beloved to us like love, truth, and justness. This is done so that the values possessed by these things continue to be in the universe instead than diing with us when we die. James contention in this respect was that his beliefs on this affair were absolutely legal even though there is presently no scientific grounds for the being of a Greater Consciousness. He claimed that If we had an infallible mind with it s nonsubjective cocksurenesss so traveling in front and believing something without scientific grounds would non be legal. However that is surely non the instance, so it is our rational responsibility to modulate what we believe through scientific discipline, harmonizing to James. Traveling back to the statement for the being of God, because the being of G od is non a affair of scientific fact why should we suspend our belief in God? James believed that modern scientific discipline is a kind of organized jitteriness. The trials that we put theories through before accepting them as the truth serve one kind of human involvement our fright of being mistaken, or being taken by surprise by the class of events. Another manner of avoiding that is through our changeless hope of detecting new things. Harmonizing to James, by ground of these different sets of involvements, we are under no duty to suspend belief in God merely because to day of the month, God s being has non been proven by modern scientific discipline. It is a affair of which set of involvements we choose to take precedence of refering the hypothesis that God exists: ( a ) out of our fright of being mistaken or out of ( B ) our hope of being right. The individual who conforms to their hope of God s being is merely every bit sensible as the individual who gives in to their fright that there may non be a God at all. Some of James statement has been used late by Pope John Paul II. In his Contemplations on Fides et Ratio, the Pope claims that worlds are searchers of truth. And during that quest, ground can non prolong one entirely. Whether it is a inquiry of the truths of immediate experience or of scientific truth, of carefully developed philosophical idea or of an existentially lived thought, the hunt for truth is ever accompanied by an act of religion. In fact, as societal existences, worlds are incapable of verifying and determining everything entirely ; at every degree one must set enlightened trust in the testimony of others and in one s cultural tradition. As a searcher of truth, adult male is, by that really ground, the 1 who lives by belief. However, holding said that, knowledge through belief # 8211 ; without personal grounds of truth, seems to be imperfect cognition. But in other respects, what cognition is ascertained through self-sufficient agencies? Do we non put our trust in interpersonal relationships and believe, without much grounds, certa in things and take them to be the truth? Particularly when it is a inquiry of the indispensable truths of life which concern the person’s interior deepnesss. However, the trust one topographic point in the other individual must non be blind. If one has ground to believe that he might be lead oning himself or lead oning me, I must do the few limited confirmations accessible to me from the exterior, by cross-checking, for illustration, with other beginnings of information. To be worthy of our ground every bit good as of the other person’s freedom, â€Å"trust† must be enlightened, and, establishing itself on â€Å"reasons to believe† , it must besides be rational. Consequently, the human pursuit for truth non merely seeks the realisation of limited truths and instantly utile truths ; it besides strives for an absolute truth, which is accessible by idea. Since it is critical for human being, this ultimate truth will be reached, non merely by pure ground, but besides by enlightened trust in the testimony of others. Reason itself is non self-sufficing and needs certain trust, if it is to win in its hunt. ( Reflections on the Holy Father s Encyclical Fides et Ratio, Bishop Andre-Mutien Leornard ) Harmonizing to W.K. Clifford in The Ethical motives of Belief, we violate our moral responsibilities if we obtain beliefs where the grounds is deficient. ( Pojman, 91 ) This implies that it is non warranted to hold a full spiritual belief, unless there is persuasive grounds for it. The content of spiritual experience has been requisitioned non to number as grounds. Religious beliefs do non look to be axiomatic. So the lone available grounds would be a non-religious guess, from which the spiritual beliefs are implied. Therefore, the lone manner of make up ones minding whether the spiritual beliefs are warranted would be to analyze assorted statements with the non-religious beliefs as premises and the spiritual beliefs as decisions. ( J. Weseley Robbins, Indiana University ) Harmonizing to Clifford, if the known statements for God s being, including any statements from spiritual experience, are at best likely 1s, no 1 would be warranted in holding full belief that there is a God. And the same holds for other beliefs. Clifford claims that It is incorrect ever, everyplace, and for anyone, to believe anything upon deficient grounds. We are perpetrating a great wickedness. Every clip we let ourselves believe for unworthy grounds, we weaken our powers of self-denial, of doubting, of judicially and reasonably weighing grounds. ( Pojman, 95 ) I think this is true for certain things but it is to strict when applied to others. For illustration, we can non see what is traveling on at the underside of the ocean. Is it incorrect for us to believe that there is marine life down at that place? I have neer been to the Moon, does that intend that it is a wickedness for me to believe that it is non truly made of cheese. I would hold no manner of cognizing or wholly swearing the grounds before me unless I, myself, went to the Moon. Besides, another thing that I found a spot confounding about Clifford s statement is the usage of the apparently spiritual linguistic communication. For illustration, his usage of the words moral and wickedness. One would believe that, in order to believe in Clifford s statement one would hold to be an atheist so why usage such linguistic communication? On the other manus, in defence of Clifford, we implicitly rely upon evidentialist rules in many different countries of question. It is the footing of our justness system ( or we like to believe that it is that manner ) and it does do a batch of sense to merely believe in something when you are supplied with sufficient grounds. In decision, I d like to state that both of these choices were really convincing. I have ever used both religion and ground to get at certain personal truths and for that ground I was more positive by William James. I believe that religion and ground go manus in manus and one without the other is useless.