>In fact, belief is only possible AS LONG AS there is no possibility
>of knowing. If we could KNOW whether there is a God, we would no
>longer have to BELIEVE; indeed -- belief would be no longer an option.
I'm not sure if I agree with your definition of belief here (that certain
knowledge is different from and obviates belief). Let me know if my own
(admittedly informal) definition differs from your idea:
To hold a belief X is to act as if X is true.
The reason I like this definition is that it encompasses unconscious
and dispositional beliefs as well as explicit beliefs.
In a previous message you said:
... I believe [handy English phrase for "I think I know"...]
that what we "know" to be true are but fuzzy approximations ...
This statement seems to use "belief" in a manner more consistent with my
definition than your latest one (hence my confusion).
-- David McFadzean dbm@merak.com Memetic Engineer http://www.lucifer.com/~david/ Merak Projects http://www.merak.com