DEF/faith

Similar terms and concepts The statement "I believe ..." can have two different meanings: I accept ... as true beyond doubt, like defined above. I will now act as if ... was true, but I have my doubts.

"We cannot doubt everything."

Definition

DEF/faith

To have faith in something means to behave in every situation as one would have to behave if what one believes in was real. (Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, Zeit und Wissen)

Relations with other concepts

• to know

Pragmatics

We all must have faith something. If we would doubt everything we cold never act, because we need all the time for rational explanations.

Examples

• Programmers believe that their programs are compiled and executed correctly.
• Millions of people believe that Windows is the best operating system.
• Civil engineers believe that the laws of nature hold.
• When we buy a product, we believe it meets its specification.

Open questions

{{{open}}}

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This is a definition from Taxonomy of Computer Science (Hanno Wupper et al. 2008).