View source for Doubt

{{Short description|Status between belief and disbelief}}
{{About|the mental state}}
{{emotion}}

'''Doubt''' is a [[mental state]] in which the [[mind]] remains suspended between two or more [[contradictory]] [[proposition]]s, and is [[certainty|uncertain]] about them.<ref name=Cath>{{Cite news
 | first = Alfred
 | last = Sharpe
 | title = Doubt
 | url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05141a.htm
 | work = The Catholic Encyclopedia
|volume= 5
 | publisher = Robert Appleton
 | location = New York
 | access-date = 2008-10-21
 | quote = A state in which the mind is suspended between two contradictory propositions and unable to assent to either of them. }}
</ref>{{better source needed|date=November 2017}} Doubt on an [[emotion]]al level is indecision between [[belief]] and [[wikt:disbelief|disbelief]]. It may involve [[uncertainty]], [[distrust]] or lack of conviction on certain [[fact]]s, actions, motives, or [[Decision making|decisions]]. Doubt can result in delaying or rejecting relevant action out of concern for mistakes or missed opportunities.

==Psychology==
Partial or intermittent negative [[reinforcement]] can create an effective [[climate of fear]] and doubt.<ref name=braiker>{{Cite book|title=Who's Pulling Your Strings ? How to Break The Cycle of Manipulation |first=Harriet B.|last=Braiker |year=2004 |publisher=McGraw Hill Professional |isbn=0-07-144672-9}}</ref>

==Philosophy==
[[René Descartes|Descartes]] employed [[Cartesian doubt]] as a pre-eminent methodological tool in his fundamental philosophical investigations. Branches of philosophy like [[logic]] devote much effort to distinguish the dubious, the [[probability|probable]] and the certain. Much of illogic rests on dubious assumptions, dubious data or dubious conclusions, with [[rhetoric]], [[whitewash (censorship)|whitewashing]], and [[deception]] playing their accustomed roles.

In his posthumous work ''[[On Certainty]]'' (OC), [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]] describes how our everyday use of the words ‘doubt’ and ‘certainty’ function. The two concepts are interwoven into our daily lives such that if we cannot be certain of any fact, then we cannot be certain of the meaning of our words either. (OC §114). 

==Theology==
[[File:Caravaggio - The Incredulity of Saint Thomas.jpg|thumb|left|180px|''[[Doubting Thomas|The Incredulity of Saint Thomas]]'' by [[Caravaggio]].]]
[[File:Rae, Henrietta - Doubts - 1886.jpg|thumb|180px|''Doubts'', by [[Henrietta Rae]], 1886]]

Doubt as a path towards (deeper) [[belief]] lies at the heart of the story of Saint [[Thomas the Apostle]]. Note in this respect the theological views of [[Georg Hermes]]:

<blockquote>
... the starting-point and chief principle of every science, and hence of theology also, is not only methodical doubt, but positive doubt. One can believe only what one has perceived to be true from reasonable grounds, and consequently one must have the courage to continue doubting until one has found reliable grounds to satisfy the reason.<ref>
{{cite encyclopedia
 | last = Schulte
 | first = Karl Joseph
 | encyclopedia =The Catholic Encyclopedia
 | title = George Hermes
 | url = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07276c.htm
 | access-date = 2008-10-21
 | year = 1910
 | publisher = Robert Appleton
 | volume = 7
 | location = New York
}}
</ref>
</blockquote>
 	
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 remain negative. Alternatively, doubt over the existence of god(s) may lead to acceptance of a particular religion: compare [[Pascal's Wager]]. Doubt of a specific theology, scriptural or deistic, may bring into question the truth of that theology's set of beliefs. On the other hand, doubt as to some doctrines but acceptance of others may lead to the growth of [[heresy]] and/or the splitting off of [[sect]]s or groups of thought. Thus [[proto-Protestantism|proto-Protestants]]  doubted [[papal authority]], and substituted alternative methods of governance in their new (but still recognizably similar) churches.

[[Christian existentialism|Christian existentialists]] such as [[Søren Kierkegaard]] suggest that for one to truly have belief in God, one would also have to doubt one's beliefs about God; the doubt is the rational part of a person's thought involved in weighing evidence, without which the belief would have no real substance. Belief is not a decision based on evidence that, say, certain beliefs about God are true or a certain person is worthy of love. No such evidence could ever be enough to pragmatically justify the kind of total commitment involved in true theological belief or romantic love. Belief involves making that commitment anyway. Kierkegaard thought that to have belief is at the same time to have doubt.<ref>''Concluding Unscientific Postscript to Philosophical Fragments'', ed. by Howard V. Hong and Edna H. Hong, v. 1, Princeton University Press, 1992, pp. 21–57</ref><ref>''Soren Kierkegaard's Journals and Papers'', trans. Hong and Malantschuk, p. 399.</ref>

==Law==
	
Most [[criminal law|criminal]] cases within an [[adversarial system]] require that the prosecution proves its contentions [[beyond a reasonable doubt]] — a doctrine  also called the "[[Legal burden of proof|burden of proof]]". This means that the State must present propositions which preclude "reasonable doubt" in the mind of a [[reasonable person]] as to the guilt of defendant. Some doubt may persist, but only to the extent that it would ''not'' affect a "reasonable person's" belief in the defendant's guilt.  If the doubt raised ''does'' affect a "reasonable person's" belief, the jury is not satisfied beyond a "reasonable doubt".  The [[jurisprudence]] of the applicable jurisdiction usually defines the precise meaning of words such as "reasonable" and "doubt" for such purposes.

==Science==
<blockquote>
To doubt everything or to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.
—[[Henri Poincaré]], Science and Hypothesis (1905) (from Dover abridged edition of 1952)</blockquote>

The [[scientific method]] regularly quantifies{{cn|date=August 2024}} doubt, and uses it to determine whether [[further research is needed]]. [[Isaac Asimov]], in his 1962 essay collection ''[[Fact and Fancy]]'', described science as a system for causing and resolving intelligent doubt.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://patduffyhutcheon.com/humanist%20articles/asimov.htm |title=Isaac Asimov: A Prophet for Our Time |access-date=2017-10-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625105519/http://patduffyhutcheon.com/humanist%20articles/asimov.htm |archive-date=2017-06-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Charles Sanders Peirce | Charles Peirce]] saw doubt as the starting point of any scientific investigation.<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Reilly
 |first1               = Francis E.
 |date                 = 18 September 2018
 |orig-date            = 1970
 |chapter              = The scientist's concern: knowledge for its own sake
 |title                = Charles Peirce's Theory of Scientific Method
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=8ouUDwAAQBAJ
 |series               = American Philosophy
 |publisher            = Fordham University Press
 |isbn                 = 9780823283200
 |access-date          = 6 August 2024
 |quote                = [...] scientific doubt and belief [...] mark the beginning and the end of a scientific investigation, a process which [Peirce] calls 'inquiry.'
}} 
</ref>
[[Karl Popper]] deployed scientific doubt as an essential tool: scientists working in the Popperian paradigm doubt any theory so thoroughly that they strive to [[falsifiability | falsify]] that theory.<ref>
{{cite book
 |editor1              = Pushpam Kumar
 |date                 = 20 December 2010
 |orig-date            = 2010
 |title                = The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity: Ecological and Economic Foundations
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=qgH5bdeq3eIC
 |series               = TEEB - The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity
 |publication-place    = London
 |publisher            = Routledge
 |page                 = xx
 |isbn                 = 9781136538797
 |access-date          = 6 August 2024
 |quote                = Following Karl popper's scientific method [...] would suggest that any scientific theory should be falsifiable, and tested and made acceptable through repeated experiments, any one of which could prove it wrong.
}} 
</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ambiguity]]
* [[Doubting Thomas]]
* [[Fear, uncertainty and doubt]]
* [[Further research is needed]]
* [[List of ethics topics]]
* [[Methodic doubt]]
* [[Philosophical skepticism]]
* [[Question]]
* [[Reasonable doubt]]
* [[Skepticism]]
*[[Self-doubt]]

==Notes and references==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wiktionary|doubt|dubious}}
{{Commons category|Doubt}}

{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Peter L. Berger|Berger, Peter L.]] and Zijderveld, Anton (2009). ''In Praise of Doubt: How to Have Convictions Without Becoming a Fanatic''. New York: HarperOne. {{ISBN|978-0-06-177816-2}}. A book by two eminent sociologists, one American and the other Dutch.
* {{Cite book
|last=Hecht
|first=Jennifer Michael
|author-link=Jennifer Michael Hecht
|title=Doubt: a history: the great doubters and their legacy of innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson
|year=2003
|publisher=HarperSanFrancisco
|location=San Francisco
|isbn=0-06-009795-7
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/doubthistory00jenn
}} This book traces the role of doubt through human history, all over the world, particularly regarding religion.
* Hein, David (Winter 2006). "Faith and Doubt in Rose Macaulay's ''[[The Towers of Trebizond]]''". ''[[Anglican Theological Review]]'' 88 (1): 47–68. {{ISSN| 0003-3286}}.

{{Emotion-footer}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Doubt| ]]