Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
9-2013
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Moore’s paradox, Assertion, Belief, Absurdity, Irrationality, Expression, Norms
Discipline
Philosophy
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Philosophical Studies
Volume
165
Issue
3
First Page
1117
Last Page
1138
ISSN
0031-8116
Identifier
10.1007/s11098-012-9997-1
Publisher
Springer Verlag
Citation
WILLIAMS, John N..(2013). Moore’s Paradox and the Priority of Belief Thesis. Philosophical Studies, 165(3), 1117-1138.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1188
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-012-9997-1