Can you clarify what it is to be the object of belief? Is that just what it is that's believed? — Sapientia
Is anyone actually claiming that a physical object is, or can be, the object of belief? Or that, "I believe that brick", makes sense? — Sapientia
The same is true of the word belief, if we want to understand the concept belief, we must look at it in the many contexts of use. — Sam26
The object of belief can't be a physical object anyway. I believe that brick. That makes no sense. I believe that the brick is red. That makes sense. — frank
What's your criterion for what makes sense? Grammar? And what is it to be the object of belief? Must it be limited to what would render the sentence grammatical? — Sapientia
That's correct. No one uses the way we speak as an argument for the way things are. I wasn't doing that. :)Whether or not a physical object can be the object of belief cannot be determined by saying that "I believe that brick," makes no sense — Dawnstorm
What I would say, is that belief has to have an object just like knowledge always does. Knowledge is always of something. Belief is always in something. That something is not a physical object like a brick, or paint. At the same time, the object of belief is something people share. The situation tempts the philosopher to come up with some alternative to endorsing a non-physical sharable object like a flaming objective idealist. — frank
Anyway, as noted, this is turning into a grammar lesson as opposed to an epistemological or metaphysical one, — Hanover
the action of believing — frank
The object of belief can't be a physical object anyway. I believe that brick. That makes no sense. I believe that the brick is red. That makes sense. — frank
To believe is a verb that has to have a receiving object (something that receives the action of believing). That is a grammatical fact. — frank
I suspect a belief is even more like a rule that guides your thought and behavior. If you believe Trump is a good man, among other things when asked if you think he's a good man, you'll answer "yes" (if speaking candidly). If you believe a knife is sharp, you'll handle it carefully, and so on. — Srap Tasmaner
A belief is not equivalent to a report thereof.
— creativesoul
Of course not. — frank
What is the notion of "object of belief" doing here aside from unnecessarily overcomplicating the discourse? — creativesoul
The word "slap" is a verb that has to have an object. If I say, "John slapped.", it's just assumed that he slapped something or somebody.
Belief is just such a verb. It just has to have an object. — frank
not sure if there is agreement, given the fact that you do not always seem to believe what you write... — creativesoul
↪creativesoul If John had belief, he believed something. — frank
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