Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ You don’t have a right to believe whatever you want to

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This is a challenging proposition. It is not the assertion that you can only believe things you know to be true - that's too strong. But it is the proposition that you ought not be able to believe things you know to be false (things like: the moon landing was fake, the world is flat, and other more venal beliefs I won't repeat here). Moreover, if the belief is morally wrong, "we condemn not only the potential acts that spring from such beliefs, but the content of the belief itself, the act of believing it, and thus the believer." This contradicts the long-touted idea that people should be able to believe whatever they want. But if belief causes action, and some actions are reprehensible, then so shouldn't be the beliefs? But if we can't believe whatever we want, well, who then decides?

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Nov 21, 2024 6:38 p.m.

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