Knowledge, Belief and Doubt | Psychology

After reading this article you will learn about the relationship between Knowledge, Belief and Doubt.

Knowledge:

Knowledge is correspondence of a system of ideas in the mind a system of facts in the environment with a belief in their correspondence. ‘Grass is green’. This judgement is an act of know­ledge.

It consists of the following factors:

(i) a judgement or synthesis of the idea of grass with the idea of green in the mind;

(ii) a system of facts in the world, viz., reality of grass, reality of green colour, and reality of grass having green colour;

(iii) correspondence, agreement or harmony between them; and

(iv) belief in correspondence between them.

Knowledge and Belief:

Knowledge is certain and free from doubt. But belief is un­certain knowledge. It contains an element of doubt. It is not know­ledge of absolute certainty. Our belief in God is not so certain as our knowledge of the existence of a pen or a house.

Disbelief in God means belief in the non-existence of God. Disbelief is belief in the contrary. Doubt is the absence of belief. It also means the absence of certain knowledge: Is it a post or a man All knowledge contains an element of belief. But all belief is not knowledge.

Belief and Doubt:

Belief is definite knowledge attended by the emotion of confi­dence. Doubt is indefinite knowledge attended by the emotion of hesitancy or anxiety on the intellectual plane. But belief is not confidence on the intellectual plane, and doubt is not anxiety on the same plane as McDougall maintains. Belief and doubt are not derived emotions.

First, doubt may be resolved by definite perception. On approaching the object of doubt, we have a definite perception of it as a post, which resolves the doubt. Secondly, doubt may be removed by communication from a trustworthy person.

If we are assured by a friend that it is a post because he perceived it, our doubt is removed. Thirdly, doubt may be resolved by reasoning. When an inhabitant of south Indian perceives a camel for the first time, he is tormented by doubt whether it is herbivorous or whether is not herbivorous.

But when he observes that the animal has cloven hoofs, and when he reasons that it must be herbivorous, because all animals with cloven hoofs are herbivorous, his doubt is resolved.