Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
submittedVersion
Publication Date
2-2015
Abstract
John Turri gives an example that he thinks refutes what he takes to be “G. E. Moore's view” that omissive assertions such as “It is raining but I do not believe that it is raining” are “inherently ‘absurd'”. This is that of Ellie, an eliminativist who makes such assertions. Turri thinks that these are perfectly reasonable and not even absurd. Nor does she seem irrational if the sincerity of her assertion requires her to believe its content. A commissive counterpart of Ellie is Di, a dialetheist who asserts or believes that: Since any adequate explanation of Moore's paradox must handle commissive assertions and beliefs as well as omissive ones, it must deal with Di as well as engage Ellie. I give such an explanation. I argue that neither Ellie's assertion nor her belief is irrational yet both are absurd. Likewise neither Di's assertion nor her belief is irrational yet in contrast neither is absurd. I conclude that not all Moore-paradoxical assertions or beliefs are irrational and that the syntax of Moore's examples is not sufficient for the absurdity found in them.
Keywords
eliminativism, dialetheism, Moore's paradox, absurdity, irrationality, norms
Discipline
Philosophy
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Theoria
Volume
81
Issue
1
First Page
27
Last Page
47
ISSN
0495-4548
Identifier
10.1111/theo.12038
Publisher
Wiley
Citation
WILLIAMS, John N..(2015). Eliminativism, Dialetheism and Moore's Paradox. Theoria, 81(1), 27-47.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1385
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/10.1111/theo.12038