Doubt: 2 Impact On Society

Doubt
This article is about the mental state. For other uses, see 2 Impact on society
Doubt (disambiguation).
Tenuous redirects here. For other uses, see Doubt sometimes tends to call on reason. Doubt may en-
wiktionary:tenuous. courage people to hesitate before acting, and/or to apply
more rigorous methods. Doubt may have particular im-
Doubt characterises a status in which the mind re- portance as leading towards disbelief or non-acceptance.
mains suspended between two contradictory propositions Politics, ethics and law, with decisions that often deter-
and unable to assent to either of them.[1] Doubt on an mine the course of individual life, place great importance
emotional level is indecision between belief and disbelief. on doubt, and often foster elaborate adversarial processes
Doubt involves uncertainty, distrust or lack of sureness of to carefully sort through all available evidence.
an alleged fact, an action, a motive, or a decision. Doubt
questions a notion of a perceived "reality", and may in- Societally, doubt creates an atmosphere of distrust, be-
volve delaying or rejecting relevant action out of con- ing accusatory in nature and de facto alleging either fool-
cerns for mistakes or faults or appropriateness. (Compare ishness or deceit on the part of another. Such a stance
paradox). has been fostered in Western European society since the
Enlightenment, in opposition to tradition and authority.
??
? ?? 3 Psychology
?
Psychoanalytic theory attributes doubt (which may be in-
terpreted as a symptom of a phobia emanating from the
? ego) to childhood, when the ego develops. Childhood ex-
?
periences, these theories maintain, can plant doubt about
ones abilities and even about ones very identity.
Cognitive mental as well as more spiritual approaches
abound in response to the wide variety of potential causes
for doubt. Behavioral therapy in which a person sys-
tematically asks his own mind if the doubt has any real ba-
sis uses rational, Socratic methods. This method con-
trasts to those of say, the Buddhist faith, which involve
a more esoteric approach to doubt and inaction. Bud-
dhism sees doubt as a negative attachment to ones per-
ceived past and future. To let go of the personal history of
ones life (arming this release every day in meditation)
Doubt plays a central role in releasing the doubts developed
in and attached to that history.
Partial or intermittent negative reinforcement can create
1 Denition an eective climate of fear and doubt.[3]
The concept of doubt as a suspense between two contra-

dictory propositions covers a range of phenomena: on a 4 Philosophy
level of the mind it involves reasoning, examination of
facts and evidence and on an emotional level believing Descartes employed Cartesian doubt as a pre-eminent
and disbelief.[1] methodological tool in his fundamental philosophical in-
In premodern theology doubt was the voice of an uncer- vestigations. Branches of philosophy like logic devote
tain conscience and important to realize, because when much eort to distinguish the dubious, the probable and
in doubt the safer way is not to act at all.[2] the certain. Much of illogic rests on dubious assump-
1
2 6 LAW
tions, dubious data or dubious conclusions, with rhetoric,

whitewashing, and deception playing their accustomed
roles.
5 Theology
The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio.
Doubt that god(s) exist may form the basis of agnosticism

the belief that one cannot determine the existence or
non-existence of god(s). It may also form other brands
of skepticism, such as Pyrrhonism, which do not take a
positive stance in regard to the existence of god(s), but Doubts, by Henrietta Rae, 1886
remain negative. Alternatively, doubt over the existence
of god(s) may lead to acceptance of a particular religion:
compare Pascals Wager. Doubt of a specic theology, doubting until one has found reliable grounds
scriptural or deistic, may bring into question the truth of to satisfy the reason.[4]
that theologys set of beliefs. On the other hand, doubt
as to some doctrines but acceptance of others may lead Christian existentialists such as Sren Kierkegaard sug-
to the growth of heresy and/or the splitting o of sects gest that for one to truly have belief in God, one would
or groups of thought. Thus proto-Protestants doubted also have to doubt ones beliefs about God; the doubt is
papal authority, and substituted alternative methods of the rational part of a persons thought involved in weigh-
governance in their new (but still recognizably similar) ing evidence, without which the belief would have no real
churches. substance. Belief is not a decision based on evidence that,
Christianity often debates doubt in the contexts of say, certain beliefs about God are true or a certain person
salvation and eventual redemption in an afterlife. This is- is worthy of love. No such evidence could ever be enough
sue has become particularly important in Protestantism, to pragmatically justify the kind of total commitment in-
which requires only the acceptance of Jesus, though more volved in true theological belief or romantic love. Belief
contemporary versions have arisen within the Protestant involves making that commitment anyway. Kierkegaard
churches that resemble Catholicism. The debate appears thought that to have belief is at the same time to have
less important in most other theologies, religions and doubt.[5][6]
ethical traditions.
Doubt as a path towards (deeper) belief lies at the heart
of the story of Saint Thomas the Apostle. Note in this 6 Law
respect the theological views of Georg Hermes:
Most criminal cases within an adversarial system require
... the starting-point and chief principle of that the prosecution proves its contentions beyond a rea-
every science, and hence of theology also, is sonable doubt a doctrine also called the "burden of
not only methodical doubt, but positive doubt. proof". This means that the State must present proposi-
One can believe only what one has perceived tions which preclude reasonable doubt in the mind of
to be true from reasonable grounds, and conse- a reasonable person as to the guilt of defendant. Some
quently one must have the courage to continue doubt may persist, but only to the extent that it would not
3
aect a reasonable persons belief in the defendants 10 Further reading

guilt. If the doubt raised does aect a reasonable per-
sons belief, the jury is not satised beyond a reasonable Berger, Peter L. and Zijderveld, Anton (2009). In
doubt. The jurisprudence of the applicable jurisdiction Praise of Doubt: How to Have Convictions Without
usually denes the precise meaning of words such as rea- Becoming a Fanatic. New York: HarperOne. ISBN
sonable and doubt for such purposes. 978-0-06-177816-2. A book by two eminent soci-
ologists, one American and the other Dutch.
Hecht, Jennifer Michael (2003). Doubt: a history:

7 In animals the great doubters and their legacy of innovation
from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jeerson and
Emily Dickinson. San Francisco: HarperSanFran-
8 See also cisco. ISBN 0-06-009795-7. This book traces the
role of doubt through human history, all over the
Doubting Thomas world, particularly regarding religion.
Hein, David (Winter 2006). Faith and Doubt

Fear, uncertainty and doubt in Rose Macaulays The Towers of Trebizond".
Anglican Theological Review 88 (1): 4768. ISSN
List of ethics topics 0003-3286.
Methodic doubt
Philosophical skepticism
Question
Reasonable doubt
Skepticism
9 Notes and references
[1] Sharpe, Alfred. Doubt. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol.

5. New York: Robert Appleton. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
A state in which the mind is suspended between two con-
tradictory propositions and unable to assent to either of
them.
[2] James Q. Whitman What Are the Origins of Reasonable

Doubt?, History News Network, George Mason Univer-
sity, February 25, 2008.
[3] Braiker, Harriet B. (2004). Whos Pulling Your Strings ?

How to Break The Cycle of Manipulation. ISBN 0-07-
144672-9.
[4] Schulte, Karl Joseph (1910). George Hermes. The

Catholic Encyclopedia. 7. New York: Robert Appleton.
Retrieved 2008-10-21.
[5] Concluding Unscientic Postscript to Philosophical Frag-

ments, ed. by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong, v. 1,
Princeton University Press, 1992, pp. 2157
[6] Soren Kierkegaards Journals and Papers, trans. Hong and

Malantschuk, p.399.
4 11 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Doubt

? ego) to childhood, when the ego develops. Childhood ex-

The concept of doubt as a suspense between two contra-

tions, dubious data or dubious conclusions, with rhetoric,

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas by Caravaggio.

Doubt that god(s) exist may form the basis of agnosticism

aect a reasonable persons belief in the defendants 10 Further reading

Hecht, Jennifer Michael (2003). Doubt: a history:

Hein, David (Winter 2006). Faith and Doubt

9 Notes and references

[1] Sharpe, Alfred. Doubt. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol.

[2] James Q. Whitman What Are the Origins of Reasonable

[3] Braiker, Harriet B. (2004). Whos Pulling Your Strings ?

[4] Schulte, Karl Joseph (1910). George Hermes. The

[5] Concluding Unscientic Postscript to Philosophical Frag-

[6] Soren Kierkegaards Journals and Papers, trans. Hong and

11 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

11.3 Content license

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