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Philosophy vocabulary · Epistemology

Belief

Meaning in philosophy, with examples

/bɪˈliːf/nounCore term

In philosophy, belief means: A mental state of taking something to be true, whether or not it really is true and whether or not you have good reasons for it.

In Turkish: inanç, kanaat

How it is used

In philosophy belief is a neutral term, not a religious one: thinking that it will rain tomorrow is a belief. Philosophers talk about forming, holding, revising and justifying beliefs, and about degrees of belief.

Example sentences

  1. A belief can be well justified and still turn out to be false.

  2. Should we revise our beliefs every time we meet someone who disagrees with us?

Common collocations

  • true belief
  • justified belief
  • hold a belief
  • revise a belief
  • degree of belief
  • knowledgeKnowing that something is the case; traditionally defined as a belief that is true and properly justified, although this definition is disputed.
  • justificationThe reasons or evidence that make it rational to hold a belief, or the property a belief has when it is properly supported.
  • truthThe property a statement or belief has when it matches how things are; philosophers disagree about what this matching really consists in.
  • epistemologyThe branch of philosophy that studies knowledge: what it is, how we get it, how beliefs are justified and how far our knowledge can reach.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Epistemology

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