The Fixation of Belief

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The Fixation of Belief

• Philosophy 1
• Spring, 2002
• G. J. Mattey

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Charles Sanders Peirce

• Born 1839
• From Cambridge, MA
• Greatest American philosopher
• Accomplished scientist
• Had no permanent university job
• Died 1914

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Peirces Contributions

• Pioneer in development of symbolic logic
• Founder of semiotic, the investigation of signs
• Made practical consequences the test of the
  meaningfulness of statements, including those of
  science and metaphysics
• Defined truth as the beliefs of the community of
  science in the long run

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Logic

• For the medievals, logic was deduction from what
  is given by authority
• Later it was seen that logic must begin with
  experience
• The way in which we learn from experience has
  been refined as science progresses
• Ultimately, Darwin used statistical methods
  where causes were unknown

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Reasoning

• A valid chain of reasoning yields a true
  conclusion given true premises
• It is not affected by how people actually reason
• Ordinary reasoning is overly optimistic, and we
  are often frustrated, though we do not learn from
  this
• Natural selection may favor logicality in
  practical matters but illogicality in impractical
  matters

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Guiding Principles

• We draw the conclusions we do in our reasoning on
  the basis of habit
• Good habit yields valid reasoning
• A guiding principle of inference is the
  formulation of habits of reasoning
• A true principle is one yielding validity
• True guiding principles are especially useful
  where there are no established methods
• Example what is true of one piece of copper is
  true of another

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Logic and Common Sense

• In investigating logic, we take for granted that
  there is a transition from doubt to belief
• The most essential principles would be those
  implied by the idea of the process
• We mix the products of logical reflection with
  those of ordinary thought
• The assignment of qualities to things is the
  result of logical reflection, not observation

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Doubt and Belief

• We manifest doubt when we ask a question and
  belief when we make a pronouncement
• Doubt and belief feel different
• Beliefs guide our desires and shape our actions,
  while doubts do not have this effect
• Doubt is uneasy and restless, while we are
  satisfied in belief, clinging tenaciously to it

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Inquiry

• The irritation of doubt leads to a struggle to
  find satisfaction in belief
• This struggle is called inquiry
• We reject beliefs in favor of doubt when they are
  inadequate in producing results
• This creates a new struggle
• The end of the struggle is at best a belief that
  we think to be true, not true belief

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Consequences for Reasoning

• It impossible to stimulate doubt artificially, in
  the manner of Descartes
• Reasoning begins from premises that are in fact
  doubted, not what is indubitable (e.g., general
  first principles or sensations)
• It is pointless to argue in favor of something
  that is already believed

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The Method of Tenacity

• One way to attain the satisfaction of belief is
  to avoid all occasions for doubt
• Another is to cling tenaciously to the beliefs
  one already has
• Immoveable faith gives great peace of mind, which
  might be greater than the inconvenience it might
  cause
• To call this irrational is only to point out that
  a tenacious believer achieves his ends differently

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The Method of Authority

• The method of tenacity has practical shortcomings
• It is opposed by the social impulsethe fixation
  of belief takes place at the level of the
  community
• But the community can enforce beliefs
• This is how theological and religious doctrines
  have been upheld historically
• It leads to cruel suppression

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The Limits of Authority

• Authority is superior to individual tenacity
• It has greater concrete successes
• This may be the best method for the great masses
  of human beings
• But some people recognize the diversity of
  beliefs across cultures
• Doubts arise because they have no reason to think
  their cultures authority is superior

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The A Priori Method

• To overcome the arbitrariness of authority,
  people try to discover indisputable facts
• This is found most clearly in mathematics
• But what is agreeable to reason is only what we
  find most inclined to believe
• There is a lot of disagreement about what is
  agreeable to reason
• Still, some beliefs that do not rest on facts are
  almost universal (e.g., people only act selfishly)

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True Induction

• The a priori method is subject to the whims of
  changing fashion, and there is never any
  permanent agreement
• In this way, it is essentially like authority
• What fixes our belief should be something upon
  which our thinking has no effect
• It should be a permanent touchstone of belief for
  every person

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The Method of Science

• The fundamental hypotheses of the method of
  science are these
• There are real things whose characters are
  independent of what we think about them
• Although our sensations vary, we can regiment
  them through laws of perception
• This gives rise to true belief about real things

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Skepticism

• The scientific method cannot be used to prove its
  assumption of real things
• There are three replies
• The method does not collapse through its own
  practice, as do the others
• Everyone admits to this hypothesis, else there
  would be no reason to believe at all
• People use the method ordinarily and fail to use
  it only when they do not know how
• Scientific method has done well in settling
  opinion

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Advantages

• The scientific method establishes a distinction
  between right and wrong belief
• Application of the method is the test of it
• The other methods have their advantages
• The a priori method gives comfortable beliefs
• Authority is the path of peace
• Tenacity is strong, simple and direct
• But there is no reason to think that belief
  corresponds with fact as a result of using them

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The Morality of Belief

• We should adopt the scientific method, though it
  means giving up security
• The integrity of belief is more wholesome than
  any particular belief one might give up
• To admit that there is truth but to shrink from
  the best way to find it is a sorry state of mind
• One who has made the choice will hold it most
  worthy, despite the discomfort it causes