How mental systems believe.

TLDR

Belief differs from mere understanding, with Descartes positing that acceptance or rejection follows an effortful assessment after automatic comprehension, while Spinoza argues that acceptance is automatic and rejection is effortful, likening belief in abstract ideas to belief in physical objects. This article examined Spinoza's alternative suggestion that acceptance of an idea is part of automatic comprehension and rejection occurs later and more effortfully. Research in social and cognitive psychology suggests Spinoza's model may be a more accurate account of human belief than Descartes'.

Abstract

Is there a difference between believing and merely understanding an idea?Descartes thought so. He considered the acceptance and rejection of an idea to be alternative outcomes of an effortful assessment process that occurs subsequent to the automatic comprehension of that idea. This article examined Spinoza's alternative suggestion that (a) the acceptance of an idea is part of the automatic comprehension of that idea and (b) the rejection of an idea occurs subsequent to, and more effortfully than, its acceptance. In this view, the mental representation of abstract ideas is quite similar to the mental representation of physical objects: People believe in the ideas they comprehend, as quickly and automatically as they believe in the objects they see. Research in social and cognitive psychology suggests that Spinoza's model may be a more accurate account of human belief than is that of Descartes.