I have a definition. Now I need a word!?!?

Question

My brain is not working tonight. I'm looking for a word. This category seems to be the right place to find it. Would somebody please fill in the following blank?

IF "faith" means accepting something as true without proof (factual evidence, not logical argument),

THEN "_____" means accepting something as true only with proof.

I'm not looking for complex philosophical/theological discussion. I'm also not looking for overly broad words like reason, logic, science, doubt, etc. (God knows any of these could underlie faith!)

I just need a word that describes the condition of acceptance upon receiving proof. You'd think there would be such a word, but I just can't dredge it up right now.

Answer 1

FACT

Answer 2

Interesting:

You have already given the word you seek:

PROOF (or proof through use of logic or reasoning, but still proof)

When you sit in a chair, you don't have to worry -- your eyes prove it is there.
When you eat an apple, you don't need to question -- you taste and feel it.
When you smell a rose, the fragrance proves it has a smell.
When you etc, etc, etc...

The ONLY things that typically NEED the concept of faith are the things we can't prove with our own senses, or at least, a mixture of logic and senses.

SO, feeling, tasting, smelling, seeing, hearing, are all facilities we use without question. The concept of God or whatever deity, ghost, demon, and so on, that you are considering is based on faith that they exist at all, unless you have PROOF that they DO exist.

So the question is:

Prove that apple on that table is real: Proven
Prove a demon lives in that apple: Faith.

Prove the skies exist: Proven
Prove God or Angels reside within the skies (heavens) : Faith

This isn't so much philosophy as it is the awareness that, while I understand your question, our language might not possess the ways to express your concept since so much of all we know is based on common beliefs we can prove, using standard reasoning through our senses and common beliefs of the physical properties of things...

:)

In the case of people who question those with faith, one person might call them a skeptic, while another might call them a scientist, while another might call them a heretic. All in all, religious arguments can be hilarious and frustrating since zealots, even when having had amazing personal experiences, can rarely share them with people who weren't there when they occurred.

But I still have my beliefs anyway, as do all of us, since faith - ultimately, is a very individual and intimately personal thing...

Answer 3

Scientific Law

Answer 4

I'd go with either reason or rationality.

And how exactly can pure reason contain underlying faith?
I once read a definition of faith as - The absence of reason

Answer 5

Atheism

Answer 6

Skepticism

Answer 7

Logic.

Answer 8

I think the word you want is "empirical". For example, there is empirical evidence that the Earth is spherical.

Answer 9

The answers of the others were all the same words i checked the dictionary ....So,all the words that were mentioneds by others were the same (o)(o)

Answer 10

Cynicism?

Answer 11

Methodological doubt? (Descartes)
Cynicism?
Seeing is believing?
Conditional belief?

Just brainstorming--hope something there sparks your brain! (That is a hard concept to put a word to!)