6. Groundless beliefs资料

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1、6.GroundlessBeliefsInfuturewearegoingtofollowthepractice----untilitbecomeahabit----ofclassifyingpropositionsaccordingtotheirgrounds.Ofeverystatementwecomeacross,weshallask:"HOWDOWEKONWTHAT?WHATREASONHAVEWEFORBELIEVINGTHAT？ONWHATGROUNGISTHATSTATEMENTBASED?"

2、Probablyweshallbeastonishedatthenumberofpropositionsmetwithineverydaylifewhichweshallfinditnecessarytoclassasgroundless.Theyrestuponmeretradition,oronsomebody’sbareassertionunsupportedbyevenashadowofproof......Itmaybeabeliefwhichweoriginallyacceptedasaresu

3、ltofsimple"suggestion"andwehavecontinuedtoholditeversince.Ithasnowbecomeoneofourregularhabitsofthought.Perhapssomebody-somewhere-sometimetoldusacertainthing,andquiteuncriticallyweacceptedandbelievedit.Perhapsitwaswaybackinourearlychildhood---beforewehadeve

4、ndevelopedthepowerofquestioninganythingthatmightbetoldtous.Manyofourstrongestconvictionswereestablishedthen；andnow,inaboutlife,wefinditmostdifficulteventoquestiontheirtruth.Theyseemtous"obviously"true.ButifthestaunchestRomeCatholicandthestaunchestPresbyter

5、ianhadbeenexchangedwheninfants,andiftheyhadbeenbroughtupwithhomeandallotherinfluencesreversedwecanhaveverylittledoubtwhattheresultwouldhavebeen.Itisconsistentwithallourknowledgeofpsychologytoconcludethateachwouldhavegrownupholdingexactlytheoppositebeliefst

6、othoseheholdsnow...andeachwouldthenhaveleftassureofthetruthofhisopinionashenowfeels---oftruthoftheoppositeopinion.Thesamethingistrue,ofcourse,ofmanybeliefsotherthanthoseofareligiousnature.Ifwehadgrownupinacommunitywherepolygamyorhead-huntingorinfanticide,o

7、rgladiatorialfighting,orduelling,wasregardedasthenormalandnaturalthing---thenweshouldhavegrownuptoregarditas"obviously"naturalandperfectlymoralandproper.IfanEnglishbabyhadbeenadoptedandbroughtupinaGermanhome,andhadgrownupwithnoknowledgethathisparentswereEn

8、glish,allthesentimentsandbeliefsofthatpersonwouldbe"German"andnot"English."Manyofourbeliefs---manyofourmostdeeply-rootedandfundamentalconvictions---areheldsimplyasaresultsofthefactthatwehappentohavebeen"broug