belief

Mental reliance on or acceptance of a particular concept, which is arrived at by weighing external evidence, facts, and personal observation and experience.

Belief is essentially a subjective feeling about the validity of an idea or set of facts. It is more than a mere suspicion and less than concrete knowledge. Unlike suspicion, which is based primarily on inner personal conviction, belief is founded upon assurance gained by empirical evidence and from other people. Positive knowledge, as contrasted with belief, is the clear perception of existing facts.

Belief has been defined as having faith in an idea or formulating a conclusion as the result of considering information. Information and belief is a legal term that is used to describe an allegation based upon Good Faith rather than firsthand knowledge.

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belief n. convinced of the truth of a statement or allegation. In a common phrase "upon information and belief," the so-called belief is based only on unconfirmed information, so the person declaring the belief is hedging his/her bet as to whether the belief is correct. (See: information and belief)

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belief (Something believed), noun canon, conclusion, conviction, credo, creed, doctrinal statement, doctrine, dogma, expectation, maxim, persuasion, precept, principle, rule, tenet
Associated concepts: beyond reasonable doubt, presumption

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belief (State of mind), noun absoluteness, assurance, assuredness, certainty, certitude, conclusion, confidence, credence, credulity, definiteness, expectation, judgment, opinio, opinion, persuasio, positiveness, sanguineness, understanding, unequivocalness
Associated concepts: good faith belief, suspicion
Foreign phrases: Cuilibet in arte sua perito est credendum.Credence should be given to one skilled in his particular art. Cuique in sua arte credendum est. Everyone is to be beeieved in reference to his own art or profession. Testibus deponentibus in pari numero, dignioribus est credennum. When the number of testifying witnesses is equal on both sides, the more worthy are to be believed.

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See also: assumption, concept, confidence, conjecture, credence, credibility, credulity, dogma, estimate, faith, idea, impression, notion, position, presumption, principle, reliance, stand, standpoint, supposition, theory, thesis, trust, weight

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BELIEF. The conviction of the mind, arising from evidence received, or from information derived, not from actual perception by our senses, but from. the relation or information of others who have had the means of acquiring actual knowledge of the facts and in whose qualifications for acquiring that knowledge, and retaining it, and afterwards in communicating it, we can place confidence. " Without recurring to the books of metaphysicians' "says Chief Justice Tilghman, 4 Serg. & Rawle, 137, "let any man of plain common sense, examine the operations of, his own mind, he will assuredly find that on different subjects his belief is different. I have a firm belief that, the moon revolves round the earth. I may believe, too, that there are mountains and valleys in the moon; but this belief is not so strong, because the evidence is weaker." Vide 1 Stark. Ev. 41; 2 Pow. Mortg. 555; 1 Ves. 95; 12 Ves. 80; 1 P. A. Browne's R 258; 1 Stark. Ev. 127; Dyer, 53; 2 Hawk. c. 46, s. 167; 3 Wil. 1, s. 427; 2 Bl. R. 881; Leach, 270; 8 Watts, R. 406; 1 Greenl. Ev. Sec. 7-13, a.