Belief or Reason: A Philosophical Inquiry
This article is a philosophical inquiry into the matter of belief and reason. As someone who has been a keen observer and loves to delve into the deeper aspect of things in life, I have noticed the debate that goes around what we refer to as belief and reason. Traditionally there is a view that to believe is to be unreasonable at times and to be reasonable is wise. But is it actually that simple? Should we also pick sides and convince ourselves that what we have chosen is the best? Or shall we inquire a bit more into the nature of both reason as well as belief? My entire aim here is not to advocate anything accept for exposing our own selves to our shortcomings and direct at adding more value to the thought we arrive upon.
We are always going to need something to live with. It’s either a person, some particular object or God. Life is never lived for life itself. It is based on not one but many things, whether it’s wealth, partner or a good house. We all have different inclinations and we live according to what we are inclined towards. Belief and reason is also among those many things that we, humans require to live by and there is an interesting debate that goes around belief and reason.
Somehow belief is required to be reasonable as well as based on rational basis and reason is required to be believable, Yet despite that, both are considered to be opposites. When we apply it to a person, we often say that:
‘She is a believer, she is simply not being rational.’ Non-believers need some conceivable evidence to prove themselves otherwise but even if they stumble upon some convincing argument or foundation, they would want to refute it. But the question here is: ‘Where does it lead us to?’
To believe something is to not know something because that which is known doesn’t really need anything else to be sustained. It already has an independent existence. And if we are to look into belief and reason as being the tools to know something, then it must be noted that it is prone to limitations. None of the two options are superior to the other one if we are to consider a heterogeneity of different circumstances, fields and matters. Infact, at times both of them have to be taken together. One may say that a rational person doesn’t rely on any belief but reason and logic. A believer may say that there are certain things beyond reason and logic. But doesn’t this very reliance on reason and logic also require belief and belief for another belief? It’s like a puzzle but it’s worth pondering upon.
IS BELIEF AND REASON OPPOSED TO EACH OTHER?
Both belief as well as reason is considered to be some tool that can help us acquire something that we are looking for. At least that is the most non-traditional way of describing what both of these things are. The only thing that marks the difference between the two is that belief is placed only when one is not sure about something. One has completely exhausted the possibility of something to such an extent that all that’s left is to speculate but speculations and assumptions don’t always sound so right so we replace them with belief because there is no way that one can go against that and moreover one can depend upon belief but one can certainly never depend on an assumption or a speculation. For instance: If atheists say that they don’t believe in the existence of God or any super-natural and all pervading supreme reality, then there absolutely nothing that one can do about it. One might try to refuse to accept but that becomes another belief then. Here comes the peculiarity of the matter. ‘Even asserting that one is not a believer is to assert at the very same time, that one is a believer.’ Because otherwise, why does anyone need to claim anything if there is not a contradiction of it already existing? What already is, already ‘is’(Is here implies the very existence itself) One need not to mention that they believe that something is.
But reason on the other hand is that option which we take when we are not done looking for answers. We already have the answers even if we logically think about why do we need reason? We need reason because we are not contented with the information we already have on any matter. We always need a third intervening element between the knower and the object of knowledge and in some cases even the knowledge of the knowledge. But there is a pitfall of reason and rationality too. It’s a fact that no matter how hard humans try, they always will be under the subjugation of the limitations that are imposed upon them. We are always convinced that there has to be some underlying reason behind everything. One thing leads to the other. But we must always keep this one thing with us that there is no end to the search. Whether it’s a search for soul, God or the universe, the search is never ending and with all the answers and evidence we may find, there always will be a queue for us to chase another reason that works behind everything separately. All we are doing is simply piling up the number of considerations that we might have to take into account. There would be a vast array of possibilities at least. So the question here is not about the superiority of reason or belief.
There is no question of superiority
We, are anyway working with the conditions we have already pre-determined. We have conditioned ourselves for the way we see life as. I wouldn’t say that it is actually us who project the world as it is. It is more of our backgrounds, the impressions and ideas we have previously been acquainted with and believe it or not, a human can never be free from personal biases. So are we really wise if we are siding with reason and getting rid of belief? or vice-versa? Here is what happens when we side with one of these poles since we never actually measure belief and reason on the same place just like we don’t measure an atheist and a theist on the same plane or a religious preacher and a scientist:
‘We tend to be pushed into a narrower alley.” If I part with reason and logic alone then I am doing away with all the other possibilities otherwise and it can not exactly be reasonable, rational or logical if we are not measuring each and every kind of possibility before establishing something. If somehow we do, then it wouldn’t exactly be a sound claim. But as I mentioned, human beings are subjugated to the limitations of their own minds and at the end they will work simply with those limitations only unless they try, otherwise to rise above those limitations which is an entirely different matter to talk about.
The search is endless but it’s time to consider reshaping and redirecting our projections and search. It’s time we question: ‘What is it that this is bringing me? Is it important? Can there be things beyond importance and gains too? Is reason all that we should aim for or belief can provide us with some ground to work with too?
What I suggest is that openness under any scenario is required. Belief might give some comfort and destroy anything that torments us and reason might destroy the very basis of many things that we believe in. They, alone are nothing but one of many ways to make life either very simple or very complex. But at the end both chosen alone as separate and distinct paths are nothing less than a mirage for a man lost in desert.
