Question Is the feeling that God exists a sufficient reason to believe in God? Is there anyway of analyzing such a feeling to determine its validity? Can feeling ever give us profound truths about the world?

Accepted:
May 13, 2010

Comments

Generally, feeling that something is true is a reason to believe that it is true (since our feelings are frequently based on true observations and ideas), but it is not a sufficient reason (since our feelings may arises from wishes rather than observations, and since there are many observations and ideas that are not reflected in our feelings).

Insofar as you want to arrive at a warranted belief, rather than trying to analyze your feeling (which is extremely difficult to do honestly, and well), you should consider a wider range of feelings, and observations, and ideas in relation to each other. This is not something that can be done in a moment, and it cannot be done according to a rule; but it is the only way to be fully reasonable about your beliefs.

It is certainly possible for feelings to reveal profound truths -- even if their truth cannot be established or confirmed by feeling alone. A feeling of horror, for example, may reveal the deep immorality of certain treatments of animals -- treatments that have plausible intellectual justifications. Establishing the immorality of such treatments, though, will depend on collecting and articulating relevant observations and concerns, and comparing them to competing considerations.

Question Is the feeling that God exists a sufficient reason to believe in God? Is there anyway of analyzing such a feeling to determine its validity? Can feeling ever give us profound truths about the world? Accepted:May 13, 2010

Question Is the feeling that God exists a sufficient reason to believe in God? Is there anyway of analyzing such a feeling to determine its validity? Can feeling ever give us profound truths about the world?

Accepted:
May 13, 2010