Moore’s Paradox and the Priority of Belief Thesis

Moore’s paradox is the fact that assertions or beliefs such as Bangkok is the capital of Thailand but I do not believe that Bangkok is the capital of Thailand or Bangkok is the capital of Thailand but I believe that Bangkok is not the capital of Thailand are ‘absurd’ yet possibly true. The current o...

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Main Author: WILLIAMS, John N.
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Language:English
Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2013
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Online Access:https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1188
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2444/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf
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spelling sg-smu-ink.soss_research-24442015-06-18T07:28:43Z Moore’s Paradox and the Priority of Belief Thesis WILLIAMS, John N. Moore’s paradox is the fact that assertions or beliefs such as Bangkok is the capital of Thailand but I do not believe that Bangkok is the capital of Thailand or Bangkok is the capital of Thailand but I believe that Bangkok is not the capital of Thailand are ‘absurd’ yet possibly true. The current orthodoxy is that an explanation of the absurdity should first start with belief, on the assumption that once the absurdity in belief has been explained then this will translate into an explanation of the absurdity in assertion. This assumption gives explanatory priority to belief over assertion. I show that the translation involved is much trickier than might at first appear. It is simplistic to think that Moorean absurdity in assertion is always a subsidiary product of the absurdity in belief, even when the absurdity is conceived as irrationality. Instead we should aim for explanations of Moorean absurdity in assertion and in belief that are independent even if related, while bearing in mind that some forms of irrationality may be forms of absurdity even if not conversely. 2013-09-01T07:00:00Z text application/pdf https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1188 info:doi/10.1007/s11098-012-9997-1 https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2444/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Research Collection School of Social Sciences eng Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University Moore’s paradox Assertion Belief Absurdity Irrationality Expression Norms Philosophy
institution Singapore Management University
building SMU Libraries
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider SMU Libraries
collection InK@SMU
language English
topic Moore’s paradox
Assertion
Belief
Absurdity
Irrationality
Expression
Norms
Philosophy
spellingShingle Moore’s paradox
Assertion
Belief
Absurdity
Irrationality
Expression
Norms
Philosophy
WILLIAMS, John N.
Moore’s Paradox and the Priority of Belief Thesis
description Moore’s paradox is the fact that assertions or beliefs such as Bangkok is the capital of Thailand but I do not believe that Bangkok is the capital of Thailand or Bangkok is the capital of Thailand but I believe that Bangkok is not the capital of Thailand are ‘absurd’ yet possibly true. The current orthodoxy is that an explanation of the absurdity should first start with belief, on the assumption that once the absurdity in belief has been explained then this will translate into an explanation of the absurdity in assertion. This assumption gives explanatory priority to belief over assertion. I show that the translation involved is much trickier than might at first appear. It is simplistic to think that Moorean absurdity in assertion is always a subsidiary product of the absurdity in belief, even when the absurdity is conceived as irrationality. Instead we should aim for explanations of Moorean absurdity in assertion and in belief that are independent even if related, while bearing in mind that some forms of irrationality may be forms of absurdity even if not conversely.
format text
author WILLIAMS, John N.
author_facet WILLIAMS, John N.
author_sort WILLIAMS, John N.
title Moore’s Paradox and the Priority of Belief Thesis
title_short Moore’s Paradox and the Priority of Belief Thesis
title_full Moore’s Paradox and the Priority of Belief Thesis
title_fullStr Moore’s Paradox and the Priority of Belief Thesis
title_full_unstemmed Moore’s Paradox and the Priority of Belief Thesis
title_sort moore’s paradox and the priority of belief thesis
publisher Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University
publishDate 2013
url https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1188
https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/2444/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf
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