The Art Of Reasoning

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that
belief and have those who reject it be terrified into silence.

This method has been much more successful than the method of tenacity
historically. For most people, this is the method that they use to fix
their beliefs, so long as they don't mind being intellectual slaves.
However, the state/church cannot regulate every opinion, and of course
people from other countries/cultures/religions who hold contrary beliefs
may influence public opinion.

3. A Priori Method

Since the two above methods are inadequate, why not have reason determine
our beliefs?

This method fails for several reasons. It fails because what our reason
tells us to believe is not necessarily consistent with our experiences; in
fact, experience only serves to defeat our beliefs at every turn. It also
fails because not everybody reasons the same way, and so it suffers the
same problem as that posed against the method of tenacity in that people
will disagree. Finally, "It makes of inquiry something similar ...

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counter the arguments of those who would attack the sciences but by
reminding scientists of what is essential to them as such and what is not.

The sort of case which academic politicians make usually uses the same
general line of reasoning. It starts by claiming that scientists make
pretense to being something they cannot possibly be, namely, infallible
knowers of the truth about something in virtue of being equipped with
methods which guarantee that whatever conclusions they come to with use of
them will be the truth. This depiction of the scientists' supposed
egocentrism is ridiculous, and it should surely give scientists pause that
they apparently present themselves so poorly both ...

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