About this episode

The episode explores the coexistence of belief and doubt through cognitive science with Dr. Joshua Mugg.

What does it mean to believe something—and can we genuinely believe while also experiencing doubt? In this episode of the Center for Hebraic Thought and the Biblical Mind Podcast , Mike Tolliver talks with philosopher Dr. Joshua Mugg about his book From Human Reasoning to Belief and his alternative to the influential “dual process” theory of human reasoning. Mugg explains why he rejects the idea that the mind is simply divided between fast, intuitive thinking and slow, rational thinking. Instead, he proposes that human reasoning operates across multiple dimensions, allowing us to adjust how we think, gather evidence, recruit other beliefs, and repeatedly reconsider our conclusions. The conversation then explores how this account of human cognition helps illuminate one of the Bible’s most intriguing statements: “I believe; help my unbelief” in the Gospel of Mark. Mugg’s theory of fragmented belief suggests that people can hold different beliefs within distinct cognitive contexts, helping explain how faith and doubt can coexist. Mike and Josh also discuss anxiety, emotion and reasoning, conspiracy theories, religious belief, deconstruction, Michael Polanyi, Esther Meek, the…

People in this episode

Host: Mike Tolliver

Guest: Dr. Joshua Mugg

Topics covered

• belief
• doubt
• faith
• cognitive science
• human reasoning
• philosophy
• religion

Keywords

• cognitive science
• belief
• doubt
• faith
• human reasoning
• philosophy
• religion

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: From Human Reasoning to Belief, Gospel of Mark

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