The Savage interrupted him. "But isn't it natural to feel there's a God?" "You might as well ask if it's natural to do up one's trousers with zippers, " said the Controller sarcastically. "You remind me of another of those old fellows called Bradley. He defined philosophy as the finding of bad reason for what one believes by instinct. As if one believed anything by instinct! One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them. Finding bad reasons for what one believes for other bad reasons—that's philosophy. People believe in God because they've been conditioned to. .Aldous Huxley
About This Quote
Philip Bradley is a British philosopher best known for his 1959 book "What Bradley Said." In this book, Bradley attempts to define philosophy as the "finding of bad reason for what one believes by instinct." For example, if someone believes something because it is "instinctive" or because they have been "conditioned" to believe it, Bradley would say that the person is not actually using their brain. Of course, our brains are quite capable of independent thought and the idea that we use our instincts to form our beliefs is patently absurd.
Source: Brave New World
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