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I suppose that's one definition of faith, but it's not the definition I would use to describe my faith. My great grandmother's nickname was, apparently, Jennie
by jawns 8y ago
I suppose that's one definition of faith, but it's not the definition I would use to describe my faith.
My great grandmother's nickname was, apparently, Jennie. No official records note this fact. But it's something told to me by my mother, who knew her. And because of everything I know about my mother, I have faith that she is telling me the truth. Without any evidence except my mother's word, I can't prove it, but I don't think it's irrational for me to believe it.
- eli_gottlieb 8y ago> Without any evidence except my mother's word, I can't prove it, but I don't think it's irrational for me to believe it. It's not irrational because it was never particularly implausible in the first place. If there was an apparent law of the universe saying your great grandmother's nickname cannot possibly be Jennie, and you insisted that your mother told you and that's that, you'd be talking about "faith" on the level usually addressed in the disputes between religious and nonreligious epistemologies.
- mercer 8y agoThe difference between 'faith' in a more religious sense and the 'faith' of your example is that for the latter, the evidence that you have is reasonable in light of the claim. Knowing your great grandmother's nickname doesn't significantly affect your life, and assuming your mother isn't a compulsive liar, there's little reason to doubt her. Furthermore, it also strikes me as the kind of information that would probably be passed down intact because it's easy to remember.