What is Belief?

epistemology and the concept of belief (definition, folk psychology, propositional attitudes (attitude and content)), perspective on the mental attitudes (phenomenological view (core, Hume, objections (Ramsey)), the theory view (core, Ryleans, folk psychology)), behaviourism, functionalism and teleofunctionalism (behavioursim, failure, functrionalism, teleofunctionalism (Milikan)), the content of belief (2 challenges, internalism vs externalism (Putnam’s twin earth), intentionalism vs fregeanism (frege’s puzzle))

Folk psychology

ordinary, everyday understanding of minds used to ascribe mental states to predict and explain certain behaviour

2 dimensions of propositional attitudes

the attitude and the content

the attitude

the psychological state

the content

the proposition (‘that’ clause toward which the attitude is directed)

perspectives on the mental attitude

phenomenological view vs the theory view

phenomenological view (Hume)

beliefs are internal experiences, we can only know our internal impressions of external objects

objections to phenomenological view

lack of publicity, unconscious beliefs, Ramsey’s critique

the theory view (proto-theory)

belief is a theoretical entity inferred from behaviour rather than observed directly (Ryleans thought experiment)

the theory view slogan

folk psychology is a proto-theory

behaviourism

mental sates as dispositions to behave

behaviourism failure

struggles with the holism of mental beliefs

functionalism

mental states defined by their causal role

teleofunctionalism (Milikan)

beliefs have a proper function based on biological normal conditions (they are meant to do to satisfy desires)

2 challenges to understand what belief is about

internalism vs externalism and intentionalism vs fregeanism

Internalism

content is determined solely by what is inside the head

Putnam’s twin earth

you and twin refer to different things when talking about water, suggests externalism

externalism

beliefs aint in the head, they depend on environment

intentionalism

content of a belief is simply a way the world might be

Frege’s puzzle

homer might believe Hesperus is shining and Phosphorus isnt when both are venus

fregeanism

content is more fine grained, it has reference and sense