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For example, if someone believes existence of god as a consequence of intuitive and instinctive thought, can we say he used reason to believe that?

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Final answer:

Intuitive belief in God does not strictly rely on reason but rather a form of cognition that can be beyond conventional reasoning. While reason seeks to justify beliefs through logical inference, faith may require belief without evidence, and not all reasoning guarantees truth.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question pertains to whether a belief in God based on intuitive and instinctive thought utilises reason. Within the realm of philosophical inquiry, the relationship between reason and faith is complex. Philosophers like Thomas Aquinas argue that we cannot infer God's existence merely from definitions; we know God as a Necessary Cause through what we observe in the natural world. Others claim that appeals to ignorance (arguing that a lack of evidence proves non-existence) are flawed. This suggests that while we cannot definitely prove God's existence through reason alone, the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Thus, intuitive belief in God does not strictly use inferential reason, but rather a form of cognition that can be seen as outside the bounds of conventional reasoning.

Furthermore, belief systems often incorporate an element of faith which may stand in contrast to, or in conjunction with reason. For instance, faith may require belief without the need for empirical evidence, while reason seeks to justify beliefs through logical inference. A crucial point made by philosophers is that not all forms of reasoning, such as inductive reasoning, can assure truth despite being correctly applied. Therefore, a person's intuitive belief in God could be construed as not being fully derived from reason but supplemented by it in the philosophical context.

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