Credition: From the Question of Belief to the Question of Believing

Abstract

This article will argue why belief can be seen as ill-defined phenomenon and highlight some especially problematic aspects of our understanding of belief. It will introduce into the discussion a fundamental change from a more static notion of belief to an understanding of believing as a fluent process. The term “credition” was conceived in order to serve as a bridge between different processes such as cognition, affection, functions of believing, belief development, and even evolution. Under the general term “credition,” we can reflect all verbrelated aspects of beliefs and belief systems. Finally the chapter will give insights in the “model of credition” which seems to represent the believing process.