C.S Pierce\'s \"The Fixation Belief\" a Reference,

¶ … C.S Pierce's "The Fixation Belief" a reference, pages explain methods: (tenacity, authority, a priori science)

In "The Fixation of Belief," author C.S. Pierce makes a number of contentions regarding the nature and importance of belief, and a variety of different methods that men utilize to accord their own particular convictions. The most rudimentary of these methods is known as tenacity -- which simply strives to eliminate all doubt from the mind regarding a particular belief by contriving circumstances and putting oneself in situations in which no evidence to the contrary is found. This concept is actually commonly practiced, and is the notion in which people make a point to believe that which they wish to believe, regardless of whether or not such a belief is actually true. This sort of selective perception has a number of limitations and benefits. Chief among the former is the fact that socially, the influences and opinions of others inevitably will affect such a person who utilizes this tenacious method -- which will inevitably bring forth doubt, the destroyer of belief. However, the principle benefit of this system is a sustained bliss (for however long one can go without significant social interaction) in which one can actually determine one's own beliefs and remain quite content in them.

The method of belief via authority is more conducive to social settings, and is largely based upon them. This method requires a central power, such as a priesthood, government, leader of a family, etc., which simply disseminates all of substantial beliefs to its adherents. People are therefore simply told what to believe, taught it early, never question it and conform to whatever those beliefs are. The primary benefit of this method is that people can remain blissfully ignorant of affairs or of any sort of things that may lead to doubt. They need only be faithful to their beliefs, regardless of any reason why they should be so. Many people relish such simplicity and base their lives around it quite happily.

The a priori method of belief has similarities to the tenacity and authority methods. However, there are also some pronounced differences between a priori and the other pair. One is the fact that the a priori method actually attempts to incorporate reason into its reasons for ascertaining a particular conviction. Such reason is typically based upon natural causes, yet is severely limited in the fact that it does not take any preceding facts or observances about a belief into consideration. There is, therefore, a fair degree of autonomy in the beliefs that a priori leads people to, which is not always consistent or congruent with one another, and which may not necessarily be true. In that sense there is a fair amount of opinion involved in this method. Such opinion is based upon natural occurrences as they appear to the individual. The primary benefit of this method is that one is actually thinking for oneself (as opposed to the method of tenacity in which one is trying hard not to think about a belief in order to believe it and as compared to the method of authority in which one simply accepts convictions without belief).

Additionally, the other boon of this method is that it can lead to the scientific method, which is based on reason but which does consider previously existing facts and thoughts on a subject. Furthermore, there is congruence in the conclusions and results of this reasoning that is based on fact, reality, and laws that can readily be applied to both in order to remove doubt. The scientific method is performed by considering evidence about a phenomenon or a belief, coming up with a hypothesis based on such evidence, testing it in some sort of way, and rationally reaching a conclusion that anyone else can reach about it as well. The chief benefit of this method is the fact that it allows people to reach similar conclusions and to create greater assurances of a truth or of a correct reason for a certain belief than any of the previously mentioned methods.

There is an intrinsic aspect of intellectuality that is a part of adopting the scientific method of fixing belief that renders it more preferable than that of the other three methods. Moreover, an examination of some of the aspects of these other three methods would readily motivate a an intellectually conscious person to adopt the scientific method due to the inherent defects of the other three. This is certainly the case when one looks at the negatives associated with the method of tenacity. Pierce makes an excellent example of this line of reasoning when he likens it to an ostrich that sees trouble approaching, say in the form of a lion that wants to eat it, and merely sticks his head underground so that he cannot see or perceive the trouble anymore. In these hermit-like, circumscribed surroundings, such an ostrich could actually believe that there is no approaching trouble. The problem with this method is that when it is time to eat and go out into the world again, social contact (in the form of other animals) will certainly inform the ostrich that his belief is incorrect and that there is a lion eating other ostriches.