A crisis of belief, ethics, and faith

90 Pages·2016·0.768 MB·English

by  Finch, Jonathan Andrew

A Crisis of
Belief, Ethics, and Faith
Jonathan Finch
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andthethinkerinallofus.

Contents
Preface:ACrisisofBelief vii
Acknowledgments ix
I:TheFoundationsofBelief 1
1.TheFoundationofThought:Self-Awareness 1
2.TheFirstDevice:Observation 3
3.TheSecondDevice:ABitofLogic 6
4.Summary:JustifiedBeliefs 10
II:Explanations 13
5.TheThreeJudges 13
6.TheJigsawSphere:AMetaphorforThought 16
7.TwoKindsofThings:ThinkingaboutBodyandMind 19
8.OntheFreedomoftheWill 25
9.Summary:AlligatorsandLadders 27
III:TheSearchforEthics 29
10.EthicalRealism:TheSearchforEthicalFacts 29
11.Non-RealistEthics:TheSearchforEthicalJudgment 33
12.ConvertingaLittleBitofAristotle 37
13.ConvertingaLittleBitofKant 42
14.ConvertingaLittleBitofMill 43
15.PuttingAllThreeTogether 45
16.Summary:AGuideBook 50
IV:PoliticalEconomicBelief 53
17.MoralMinimumsandDeepValues 53
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vi Contents
18.ClosedSocietiesandHierarchies 55
19.SomeSuggestionsinPoliticalEconomicThought 57
V:Conclusion:FromFaithtoPhilosophy 59
20.Self-MappingRobots 59
21.TheProblemwithFaith:TheMetaphoroftheLibrary 63
22.TheStartofaTheology:TWIGTI 66
23.Epilogue:MyJourneyfromFaithtoPhilosophy 71
Bibliography 75
PartOne 76
PartTwo 77
PartThree 77
PartFour 77
PartFive 78
Preface
A Crisis of Belief
When I was younger my mother would remark how I was such a nice boy.
But around twelve years old, I started getting more and more angry. I was
angrybecauseIfeltbetrayed,betrayedbywhatIhadbeentaught.Mymother
and her mother were both deeply Christian and fundamentalist in bent of
thought but werealsowell educated. I was thusraisedto think andquestion
butalsotoacceptChristianconclusionsasthecorrectresultofthisprocess.
Ilaterlearnedthattheageoftwelveiswhenchildrenstoprelyingheavily
on absorption when learning and start thinking critically, forming their own
ideas. I had taken to biblical study in those early years, as much from an
interestasself-defense,andhadstartedtofindproblemswithafundamental-
istreadingoftheBibleandChristianthoughtingeneral.Idon’tremembera
particulardaywhenIputitalltogetherenoughtorejecttheseteachings,butI
dorememberperiodsof increasingdifficulty with acceptingwhatwas being
said and taught. During high school I was increasingly forced to attend
church against my will, and when I left for college I ended all contact with
organizedreligiousceremoniesexceptforvisitshome.
My crisis in belief then really starts, in terms of altering my thought and
behavior,aroundage12andhascontinueduntilalmostmy40thbirthday.In
college and graduate school, I had the chance to study philosophy, which
introduced me to all kinds of intellectual options in terms of why to believe
and what to believe. Vital information for deciding how to understand and
define myself andwhatkind of personI wantedto tryandbecome. Philoso-
phygavemetheoptionsthatmychildhoodeducationhadmissed,andtothis
day it remains a great deal of fun to do as well. My crisis in belief was a
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viii Preface
troublingmatter,andIhopeinthecomingpages,inwholeorinpart,toassist
otherswithsimilarconcerns.