Beliefs, facts, opinions, and values
Today in class
Your assignment for today, you'll remember, was:
. . . to look back through the statements of belief we've been working with -- the ones you brought to class, or ones your group settled on . . . -- and choose one about which you could say either "yes, I believe that" or "no, I do not believe that." Then, choose one about which you would say, "I can't say whether I believe that or not, because it depends . . ." and write out what it depends on.We're going to begin by choosing some of those to talk about. So I'll set up some groups and ask each group, first, to decide on one of the candidates for the first category that you think poses problems (for example, people disagree about whether you can decide clearly whether or not you believe it). We'll talk about them.Bring to class Thursday afternoon one page on which the first belief is written (you don't have to say whether you believe it or not), and, below that, the second one. Below that one you should say what it depends on.
Then we'll have a look at some of the ones in the second category ("it depends"), so I'll ask groups to make some choices there, and we'll talk about those. My aim is for us to get some fairly clear ways to state beliefs clearly and unequivocally, and to look at some of the ways they make it hard for us to make decisions about whether they are actually beliefs some people (or maybe everybody) could hold.
For next Tuesday
I want to continue thinking about what constitutes a "belief," and to do that I've pulled out a substantial number of the statements people brought to class last Thursday when we asked for beliefs arising from, or implicated in, our consideration of Oleanna.
I'll distribute a survey I've set up, and your assignment for next Tuesday will be to complete it, and bring it back to class at 2:30.