Belief is Contingently Involuntary

In Defense of the Contingently Nonconcrete

object that encodes just the properties derived from the legend. In other contexts, such as in uses of the sentence ‘the fountain of youth is a fountain’, the description ‘the fountain of youth’ might just denote the abstract object that encodes the property of being a fountain that confers eternal youth and any properties implied by this property. So there are various ways to analyze the Engli...

Is belief reasoning automatic?

Understanding the operating characteristics of theory of mind is essential for understanding how beliefs, desires, and other mental states are inferred, and for understanding the role such inferences could play in other cognitive processes. We present the first investigation of the automaticity of belief reasoning. In an incidental false-belief task, adult subjects responded more slowly to unex...

What is a Belief State?

Is knowledge justified true belief?

Is knowledge justified true belief? Most philosophers believe that the answer is clearly ‘no’, as demonstrated by Gettier cases. But Gettier cases don’t obviously refute the traditional view that knowledge is justified true belief (JTB). There are ways of resisting Gettier cases, at least one of which is partly successful. Nevertheless, when properly understood, Gettier cases point to a flaw in...

Involuntary Iridectomy

Sir,?As Captain Duer suggests i" the Indian Medical Gazette, October 1901, it would interest us much to hear more from our experienced operators of the cause of this accident of involuntary iridectomy. I have often wondered why more has not been said about it. When it has happened to me I have always put it down to want of skill. Perhaps it has been so. I do not believe that it is always due to...