7/30/2019 Philo Notes1

1/2

From Opinion to Faith

What is Opinion?

Cant have opinion on things youre intimate witho Experience is so richo Cant encapsulate it in a few words

Reflect on how opinion develop (ex: stereotypes)P. 123-124 (reflects on structure of Opinion)

Something that starts as an impression which turns into a claim(Impressionmaintenancedepersonalized Claim)

o Impression is not an opiniono Maintenance

something that can be backed up Something that is asserted (reason to believe

o Opinion when it becomes depersonalizedo Depersonalized Claim

Removing the I from the sentence Assuming that it is something everyone

believes

This occurs because of an absence of reflectionOpinion

Tends to act like an organism picking which informationsupports it and dismisses claims that destroy it.

(Self affirming character of opinion)

Gives example of political opiniono Can have opinion and not opiniono Actually are sincere (factual rather than opinion)o But some parts are still at the level of opinion

Perhaps commitment and opinion are mutually exclusive

Opinion experience of distance Opinions are maintained when distance is maintained

Religious Opinion p.121

part of my metal furniture, nothing more

o It is not evolving anymore to the extent that I live my belief, it is in no way an opinion represents it to his mind but does not live it external to me Commitment to God

o Prayer, challenge something central to your life,seeking to know God better

Religious Opiniono Does not transform your lifeo Does not push you to have a relationship with God

p. 129-130Atheism as Religious Opinion

God does not exist Suppose God is all powerful, all knowing, all good

o Existence of Evil At the heart of all arguments is a definition of God

o opinion about how God should exist w/o knowing himo Against an Idea of God rather than God itself

Two Arguments

If he exits I should have an experience of God If God exists then there wouldnt be bad things

o Presupposition of knowing what God would doo When you think someone would do something in a

certain situation it requires a bit of experience that

someone has acted that wayConviction

p.130

A limit, an end, a bar that has been drawn The inalterability of ConvictionEx: Politics

There has been an attempt to ground it in empirical data but likeopinion stops developing

Everything is past anything from the future is treated as past Anticipated past, projecting ideas

p.131Something dishonest: Conviction

7/30/2019 Philo Notes1

2/2

2 possible reasons

I have considered all and I concludeo Impossible: no one can know everything

I affirm there are objections but they wont shake myconvictions

o Dishonestwhy wouldnt you want a betterunderstanding?

o p.133: either I am delusional or I am choosing tobelieve this lie

I can only say that

with what I know now, I can conclude that

Religious Conviction

they treat it as the final and fixed version of religion limiting to what something is

*Authentic faith and truth are not mutually exclusive a relationship (distance and closeness bad for relationship)

Belief

not just a certain set of beliefs without conviction, is belief not realistic? Temporal difference between conviction and belief

o Authentic Belief being open, growthp. 134

Clarifying terminology

Believing in(not believing that)metaphor of creditassurance based on trust between Creditor and Creditee

I am the person who is trusting (the bank)o I am lending myself to God or this x (fully or not)o Trusting that this self will be returned to youo Allowing our worlds to be dictated to himo Gives up his freedom because he trusts

Not an Idea but a relationship the x can onlybe a thou not a thing

Faith in science: an assurance (faith in scientist)

p. 135

Surrender of oneself

If belief is without conviction isnt it a bit relative?

Rather than conviction/certainty belief is based on trustPurely phenomenological not interested in deciding if God exists butdiscusses on what a believer goes through (very subjective)

X is a thou

x can respond p.135Belief is also an experience of being disappointed

2 implications1) Vulnerability to someone increase trust

a. Level of trustb. Certain dept st I too am destroyed if my image of the X

is destroyed2) The fact that I am disappointed presupposed an assumption of

how X should act (an opinion or conviction)

a. Challenge of how one should reactb. Leads to a pure faith

Faith becoming a unconditionalityo Even if X isnt what I thought it would be I will expand

my love to encompass the thou

Love and Faithlikens it to marriage

There is possibility for unconditional love of creature forcreature perhaps how is faith itself

an invincible assurance bared on being itself Implies purification of Opinion Faith Growing of faith to unconditionality