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It is important to first establish that one cannot analyse beliefs and knowledge together, especially in relation to culture, thus they must be handled differently because they are both separate entities, in how they influence an individual’s culture. Culture is the behaviour, and beliefs characteristic of an individual, particular, social ethnic group age group. Culture is the society and values upon which one is raised. It is built upon customs, practices, beliefs and ideas that are instilled in an individual by influential parties such as parents from childhood.
These are all derived from imagination, knowledge and cultural values which are developed over time depending on customs and beliefs. These then influence an individual’s customs. This is basically to say that once something is repeated to an individual over time especially by someone in authority over them, they begin to believe and practice the said affirmation. Belief is something that is perceived to be true by an individual but is not common to all individuals. According to Michael Woolman, belief is a tendency to accept principles one has always accepted regardless of evidence to the contrary. Belief can be deemed fallacious because it is relative especially by people who do not share the same beliefs. Belief is also confidence in the truth of what we believe in and it is justified by its working.
Belief is also associated with action, ergo, one must practice what they believe in. Descartes basically means that you cannot doubt your beliefs for there is a reason you believed in the first place. Over time, beliefs evolve from being just mere beliefs and become part of an individual’s belief system which is what people believe in, inspired by their culture. Therefore, we cannot have beliefs which are independent of our culture. If you need assistance with writing your essay, our professional essay writing service is here to help!
There is a thin line between knowledge and belief in the sense that belief never leads to knowledge, but knowledge leads to belief. It is not possible for one to believe in something they do not know, however, it is possible to know something they do not believe in. For instance, in the late 1800’s, the Kikuyu community of Kenya believed in naming people according to what they were good at, akin to the characteristics they exhibited. Also, according to Plato, knowledge is justified as true belief.