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by Radu Marin
Deac
To Believe or to Know?
That is the question.
As for the answer, opinions vary.
The Greek philosopher Proclus demonstrated, based on Plato's comments on
the aspects of Being and Becoming, that Opinion or "Doxa" partakes of "that
which comes into being and passes away in later time".
Proclus also added that Opinion can be identified as being divisible and
composite and as a major contributor in the process of differentiation.
At a higher level of perception, Proclus, continuing the comment on Plato's
discourse, identified Understanding or "Dianoia" as partaking of "that which
always is", characterized as unchangeable, stable and incontrovertible.
To Believe or to Know?
At this point, leaving Opinion(s) behind, we shall investigate the objective
meaning of these words.
In order to do that we first have to understand what a word is.
A word, according to www.dictionary.cambridge.org, is "a single unit of
language that has meaning and can be spoken or written".
A word is also composed of various letters (in writing) and sounds (when
spoken).
A letter, according to www.dictionary.cambridge.org, is "any of the set of
symbols used to write a language, representing a sound in the language".
An alphabet, according to www.dictionary.cambridge.org, is "a set of letters
arranged in a fixed order, used for writing a language".
Now, going back, we see that a word is actually composed in a system of
letters (symbols) known as the alphabet.
So far we have demonstrated that a word is a code and we have defined our
two words (better said, we have deciphered our two codes).
But what does one or the other imply and how do these codes function?
Let's analyze the definition of "to believe" and let's see what information can
we extract from it.
According to the definition, "to believe" (something) implies accepting
(something) and lack of proof/evidence (of that something), which also
implies that a demonstration (of that something) cannot be made.
"To know" (something) implies observation (of that something), inquiry or
information (about that something), or differently put, it implies familiarity
(of that something) or, again differently said, experience (and
understanding) with/of/in (that something).
We shall now investigate the definitions of the concepts implied by "to
believe" and by "to know".
"To accept" is defined as to "consent to receive or undertake (something
offered)" or to "give an affirmative answer to (an offer or proposal); say yes
to" (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com) or "to believe that something is true"
(www.dictionary.cambridge.org).
"Proof" is defined as "evidence or argument establishing a fact or the truth of
a statement" (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com) or as "a fact or piece of
information
that
shows
that
something
exists
or
is
true"
(www.dictionary.cambridge.org).
"Familiarity" (of something) is defined as "close acquaintance with or
knowledge of something" (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com) or as "a good
knowledge of something, or the fact that you know it so well"
(www.dictionary.cambridge.org).
"Experience" is defined as "practical contact with and observation of facts or
events" (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com) or as "(the process of getting)
knowledge
or
skill
from
doing,
seeing,
or
feeling
things"
(www.dictionary.cambridge.org).
From the definitions above an interesting aspect is to be found regarding our
two codes.