Beliefs should be like fluid entities within the mind, some malleable and doubtful, others more viscous and certain. But feeling certain should never be confused with being incontestable. Once a belief is allowed to solidify, it becomes like a shackle on the mind, inhibiting exploration, learning and growth. A fluid mind should never allow a belief to be so hardened that it is beyond rational scrutiny. A fluid mind always invites rational examination upon even its most cherished convictions.
“Philosophy and psychology really only separated at the beginning of the last century. Philosophy has always needed, and appealed to, empirical psychology, as empirical psychology has always needed, and referred to, philosophy. What’s more, without the other, each one is incomplete. Philosophers tend to be too abstract, to be ignorant of, or simply ignore, the facts about human behavior in favor of some abstract ideal. Psychologists, too often, tend to have their nose in an experiment or, more generally, insist on science when, in fact, what they do is primarily important because of its relationship to ethics, the good life, living well.”
—Robert Solomon
Copyright © 2026 Daniel G. Delaney