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Belief
Belief is the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the case with or without there being empirical evidence to prove that something is the case with factual certainty. Another way of defining belief sees it as a mental representation of an attitude positively oriented towards the likelihood of something being true. In the context of Ancient Greek thought, two related concepts were identified with regards to the concept of belief: pistis and doxa. Simplified, we may say that pistis refers to “trust” and “confidence”, while doxa refers to “opinion” and “acceptance”. The English word “orthodoxy” derives from doxa. Jonathan Leicester suggests that belief has the purpose of guiding action rather than indicating truth.In epistemology, philosophers use the term “belief” to refer to personal attitudes
associated with true or false ideas and concepts. However, “belief” does not require active introspection and circumspection. For example, we never ponder whether or not the sun will rise. We simply assume the sun will rise. Since “belief” is an important aspect of mundane life, according to Eric Schwitzgebel in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, a related question asks: “how a physical organism can have beliefs?”
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Believe (verb)
To accept as true, particularly without absolute certainty (i.e., as opposed to knowing)
“If you believe the numbers, you’ll agree we need change.”
“I believe there are faeries.”
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Believe (verb)
To accept that someone is telling the truth.
“Why did I ever believe you?”
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Believe (verb)
To have religious faith; to believe in a greater truth.
“After that night in the church, I believed.”
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Believe (verb)
To consider likely
“ux|en|I believe it might rain tomorrow. (Here, the speaker merely accepts the accuracy of the conditional.)”
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Belief (noun)
Mental acceptance of a claim as true.
“It’s my belief that the thief is somebody known to us.”
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Belief (noun)
Faith or trust in the reality of something; often based upon one’s own reasoning, trust in a claim, desire of actuality, and/or evidence considered.
“My belief is that there is a bear in the woods. Bill said he saw one.”
“Based on this data, it is our belief that X does not occur.”
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Belief (noun)
Something believed.
“The ancient people have a belief in many deities.”
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Belief (noun)
The quality or state of believing.
“My belief that it will rain tomorrow is strong.”
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Belief (noun)
Religious faith.
“She often said it was her belief that carried her through the hard times.”
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Belief (noun)
One’s religious or moral convictions.
“I don’t want to do a no-fault divorce on my husband and steal from him under color of law. It’s against my beliefs.”
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Believe (verb)
accept that (something) is true, especially without proof
“the superintendent believed Lancaster’s story”
“some 23 per cent believe that smoking keeps down weight”
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Believe (verb)
accept the statement of (someone) as true
“he didn’t believe her”
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Believe (verb)
have religious faith
“there are those on the fringes of the Church who do not really believe”
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Believe (verb)
feel sure that (someone) is capable of doing something
“I wouldn’t have believed it of Lavinia—what an extraordinary woman!”
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Believe (verb)
hold (something) as an opinion; think
“I believe we’ve already met”
“four men were believed to be trapped”