Belief

Belief is the state of mind in which a person thinks something to be the case, with or without there being empirical evidence to prove that something is the case with factual certainty. Another way of defining belief is, it is a mental representation of an attitude positively oriented towards the likelihood of something being true. In the context of Ancient Greek thought, two related concepts were identified with regards to the concept of belief: pistis and doxa. Simplified, we may say that pistis refers to trust and confidence, while doxa refers to opinion and acceptance. The English word orthodoxy is derived from doxa. Belief's purpose is to guide action and not to indicate truth. In epistemology, philosophers use the term 'belief' to refer to personal attitudes associated with true or false ideas and concepts. However, 'belief' does not require active introspection and circumspection. For example, we never ponder whether or not the sun will rise. We simply assume the sun will rise. Since 'belief' is an important aspect of mundane life, according to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, the question that must be answered is, "how a physical organism can have beliefs". The editor is a Former Intelligence Officer and has authored several books, edited numerous other books and has written many Technical, Classified & Unclassified papers, Articles & Essays. He has also been a Contributing Author for The International Encyclopedia on Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence. He has appeared in Marquis "Who's Who in the World" & "Who's Who in Science & Engineering" and continues to edit and write. The purpose of this series of books is to illuminate the necessity to emphasize our common humanity and eliminate the battles and divisiveness that exist in the ongoing religious struggles. This book is designed to be a reference and provide an overview of the topic and give the reader a structured knowledge to familiarize yourself with the topic at the most affordable price possible. The accuracy and knowledge is of an international viewpoint as the edited articles represent the inputs of many knowledgeable individuals and some of the most current knowledge on the topic, based on the date of publication.