What is it about?
If we take seriously the idea that what we know is a result of experience and choice, there are inevitably differences in the beliefs people hold. Beliefs are also partly social and partly personal which makes them resistant to change.
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Why is it important?
The social fabric is at present stretched by firmly help beliefs. Some beliefs are ways of interpreting the world and as such other people are free to hold other interpretations. If we understand that people's interpretations of experience depend on their history, then we are morally bound to recognise differences in belief.
Perspectives
If people understood that their beliefs are personal psychological ways of interpreting experience, they will be more open to and less destructive of different beliefs. Absolute certainty is often elusive, and where it is found is usually in the heart, it's not something one can be sure of sharing. Let's be aware beliefs are fragile valuable things, rather than truths demanding obedience. This article make a case for this view psychologically.
Dr Hugh Gash
Dublin City University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Systems and Beliefs, Foundations of Science, January 2015, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1007/s10699-015-9411-5.
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