Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
1-2007
Abstract
I give an account of the absurdity of Moorean beliefs of the omissive form (om) p and I don’t believe that p, and the commissive form (com) p and I believe that not-p, from which I extract a definition of Moorean absurdity. I then argue for an account of the absurdity of Moorean assertion. After neutralizing two objections to my whole account, I show that Roy Sorensen’s own account of the absurdity of his ‘iterated cases’ (om1) p and I don’t believe that I believe that p, and (com1) p and I believe that I believe that not-p, is unsatisfactory. I explain why it is less absurd to believe or assert (om1) or (com1) than to believe or assert (om) or (com) and show that despite appearances, subsequent iterations of (om1) or (com1) do not decrease the absurdity of believing or asserting them.
Keywords
Moore's paradox, belief, absurdity
Discipline
Philosophy
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Journal of Philosophical Research
Volume
32
First Page
144
Last Page
168
ISSN
1053-8364
Identifier
10.5840/jpr20073236
Publisher
Philosophy Documentation Center
Citation
WILLIAMS, John N..(2007). Moore's Paradoxes and Iterated Belief. Journal of Philosophical Research, 32, 144-168.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/149
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/10.5840/jpr20073236