Belief and Self‐Knowledge: Lessons From Moore's Paradox

Philosophical Issues 26 (1):393-421 (2016)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to argue that what I call the simple theory of introspection can be extended to account for our introspective knowledge of what we believe as well as what we consciously experience. In section one, I present the simple theory of introspection and motivate the extension from experience to belief. In section two, I argue that extending the simple theory provides a solution to Moore’s paradox by explaining why believing Moorean conjunctions always involves some degree of irrationality. In section three, I argue that it also solves the puzzle of transparency by explaining why it’s rational to answer the question whether one believes that p by answering the question whether p. Finally, in section four, I defend the simple theory against objections by arguing that self-knowledge constitutes an ideal of rationality.

Author's Profile

Declan Smithies
Ohio State University

Analytics

Added to PP
2016-04-17

Downloads
857 (#14,590)

6 months
97 (#36,222)

Historical graph of downloads since first upload
This graph includes both downloads from PhilArchive and clicks on external links on PhilPapers.
How can I increase my downloads?