Monday, April 17, 2006
To know, to believe, to opine
Let me begin by pointing out a distinction without which we're sure to get hopelessly muddled, the distinction that determines whether a claim is being made based on knowledge or on faith or on opinion.
If I claim I know something, my claim is essentially based on the soundness of my mind: of my memory, in the case of experiential knowledge; and of my memory and my reason, in the case of scientific or demonstrable knowledge. And, as the name implies, I should be able to demonstrate, to offer a sound argument for, whatever demonstrable knowledge I possess.
If I claim I believe something -- this is according to the distinction I am making; I realize people aren't so formal in ordinary speech -- my claim is based on faith in another. By believing, I am, as the old formula has it, participating in the knowledge of another. To say, "I believe X," is to say, "I have faith in person Y, and person Y says he knows X."
If I claim I opine something, or more likely that I doubt or suspect or guess something, my claim is based on my judgment of how certain that something is based on the evidence I am aware of. Opinion differs from knowledge and belief in that it is essentially uncertain, if only because there is always uncertainty where knowledge (either direct or through another) is lacking.
If I claim I know something, my claim is essentially based on the soundness of my mind: of my memory, in the case of experiential knowledge; and of my memory and my reason, in the case of scientific or demonstrable knowledge. And, as the name implies, I should be able to demonstrate, to offer a sound argument for, whatever demonstrable knowledge I possess.
If I claim I believe something -- this is according to the distinction I am making; I realize people aren't so formal in ordinary speech -- my claim is based on faith in another. By believing, I am, as the old formula has it, participating in the knowledge of another. To say, "I believe X," is to say, "I have faith in person Y, and person Y says he knows X."
If I claim I opine something, or more likely that I doubt or suspect or guess something, my claim is based on my judgment of how certain that something is based on the evidence I am aware of. Opinion differs from knowledge and belief in that it is essentially uncertain, if only because there is always uncertainty where knowledge (either direct or through another) is lacking.
