In my previous life I was a soldier in the army of Napoleon" could be the direct expression of

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Question 1:"At least 50 people in Oregon and Michigan developed severe stomach disorders after eating hamburgers at McDonald's" could be the direct expression of

  1. a belief
  2. a disbelief
  3. a non-belief

Question 2:"I suspend judgment about whether mind and body are the same thing" could be the direct expression of

  1. a belief
  2. a disbelief
  3. a non-belief

Question 3:"In my previous life I was a soldier in the army of Napoleon" could be the direct expression of

  1. a belief
  2. a disbelief
  3. a non-belief

Question 4:"We cannot tell whether or not there are more divorces in Canada than in the US" could be the direct expression of

  1. a belief
  2. a disbelief
  3. a non-belief

Question 5: "It is not the case that others in this room are thinking about logic" could be the direct expression of

  1. a belief
  2. a disbelief
  3. a non-belief

Question 6:"The earth is flat" is

  1. accurate
  2. inaccurate
  3. neither

Question 7:"Salsa music is beautiful" is

  1. accurate
  2. inaccurate
  3. neither

Question 8: "Mexico is located south of the USA" is

  1. accurate
  2. inaccurate
  3. neither

Question 9: "Emeralds are not blue but green" is

  1. empirically or conceptually reasonable
  2. empirically or conceptually unreasonable
  3. non-decidable on evidence or conceptual reasons alone

Question 10:"With appropriate guidance, you can make contact with any being you choose, including angels and the dead" is

  1. empirically or conceptually reasonable
  2. empirically or conceptually unreasonable
  3. non-decidable on evidence or conceptual reasons alone

Question 11: "2 is the smallest even number" has

  1. empirical content
  2. conceptual content
  3. other content

Question 12 :"YouTube engages young people in the political process" has

  1. empirical content
  2. conceptual content
  3. other content

.Question 13: "Sister' means 'female sibling'" has

  1. empirical content
  2. conceptual content
  3. other content

Question 14:"There is no life on Mars." has

  1. empirical content
  2. conceptual content
  3. other content

Question 15: "If Everest is taller than Aconcagua, then Aconcagua is not taller than Everest" has

  1. empirical content
  2. conceptual content
  3. other content

Question 16: "Jazz is intolerable" has

  1. empirical content
  2. conceptual content
  3. other content

Question 17: "There are UFOs" has

  1. empirical content
  2. conceptual content
  3. other content

Question 18: The two beliefs: "2 + 1 = 3." and "There is no number that is the largest number" are

  1. inconsistent, made out of contradictory beliefs
  2. inconsistent, contains at least one necessarily false belief
  3. consistent

Question 19: The two beliefs: "There is no life underneath the ice in Antarctica" and "scientists have found bacteria underneath the ice in Antarctica" are

  1. inconsistent, made out of contradictory beliefs
  2. inconsistent, contains at least one necessarily false beliefs
  3. consistent

Question 20: "Tuning forks, music, and various earth stones open up a person spiritually and psychically" is

  1. conservative
  2. non-conservative
  3. controversial

Question 21: "Eating contaminated food can cause severe stomach problems" is

  1. conservative
  2. non-conservative
  3. controversial

Question 22:"Abortion is morally wrong" is

  1. conservative
  2. non-conservative
  3. controversial

Question 23: "Just by disciplined meditation, we can release a powerful, specialized form of universal healing energy" is

  1. conservative
  2. non-conservative
  3. controversial

Question 24: "Every country in the world should reject capitalism as an unfair economic system" is

  1. conservative
  2. non-conservative
  3. controversial

Question 25: "Puppies are young dogs" is

  1. conservative
  2. non-conservative
  3. controversial

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ParaUel between stktements and beUefe: when speakers are sincere and the circumstances are normal, thfeir^tatemerits e^^ress*. their beliefs. Propositions: the contents of statements and beliefs. Since each proposition is either tru CHAPTER false, each statement is either true or false. Direct links between sentence types and uses of language. Sentence Types Speech Acts INFORMATIVES DIRECTIVES EXPRESSIVES COMMISSIVES The Virtues of Belief Speech acts: The things we do simply by using language (inforrning. apologizing, greeting, objecting, promising, recommending, etc.). Tliere are four types of speech acts: Informatives (language used to convey information) Directives (language used to get the audience to do something) Expressives (language used to express the speaker’s psychological states) Commissives (language used to bring about a state of affairs) Figurative meaning: when an expression isn’t used with its customary meaning, as in *» ^ 5" 'f*' “'t”1 f “ 'SS)■.toTr°e sides: What is to be defined (d^niendum), and what does the,defimng ( fi three’types of meaning^definition: Reportive definition: its dejiniens is synonymous with its dejiniendum. It’s tested by OsteS^S£itioiu its d^niens points to cases to which the d^^i^ndum applies. Contextual definition: its denims offers a replacement of the definiendum. ■ Keywords Evidence' Tmth conditions Proposition Declarative sentence Speech act I This chapter looks more closely at beliefs, the building blocks of inference. Iil I connection with this, you’ll learn about such topics as , ■•Belief, disbelief, apd nonbelief. Some virtues of belief that are to be cultivated: accuracy, truth, reasonableness, consistency, conservatism, and revisability. ■,Some vice^ of belief that aretg.be avoided: inaccuracy, falsity, .unreasonableness, , jnconsistency, dogmatism, and relativism. ■ The difference between^empirical belief and conceptual belief. ■ The notions of self-contradiction, contradiction, and logically possibly world. ■ The “supervirtue” of rationality and the “supervice” of irrationality. Indirect speech act Figurative language Reportive definition Ostensive definition Contextual definition 49 3.1 Belief, Disbelief, and Nonbelief Beliefs and disbelief? are two types of psychological attitudes people may have when they are engaged in accepting ^hat they think is true and rejecting whafs false. We’ll call these was states of minH ‘cognitive attitudes’ (from the Latin, ‘cognoscere,’ which means ‘to know’). Nonbeliefs represent the lack of either of these two attitudes. A belief is the cognitive attitude of accepting a proposition, which is an information content representing states of affairs. Consider, for example, the proposition expressed by 1 Dogs are carnivorous. Anyone who believes (i) has the psychological attitude of accepting that dogs are carnivorous. That person takes (i) to be tme. If asked whether (i) is true, under normal circumstances, she would assent. Assuming she’s sincere and competent, she could voice her belief by stating (i), or many other sentences such as 2 It is trae that dogs are carnivorous. 3 It is the case that dogs are carnivorous. (i), (a), and (3) may be used to express the same content: namely, the proposition that dogs are carnivorous. Supposing we use ‘S’ to stand for a speaker (or person), *P’ for a proposition, and ‘believing that P’ for the psychological attitude of accepting that P, we can define belief in this way; BOX 1 would dissent. And to voice her disbelief, she would deny (1)—^for example, by asserting (4). We may now summarize the concept of disbelief in this way: BOX 2 ■ DISBELIEF S has a disbelief that P just in case S rejects that P. Assuming that the circumstances are normal and S is sincere, if asked, ■ ‘Is P true?’ S would dissent. ■ ‘What do you make of P?’ S would deny that P is trae by uttering sentences such as 'P is false,’ ‘NotT,’ and ‘It is not the case that P.’ What about those who neither believe nor disbelieve (1)? They have the attitude of nonbeli^ about (1). Under normal circumstances, they would neither accept nor reject it. If asked whether that content is true, they might shrug, giving no sign of assent or dissent. Box 3 summarizes all these reactions. BOX 3 ■ NONBELIEF S has a nonbelief that P just in case S neither accepts, nor rejects, that P. Assuming that the circumstances are normal and S is sincere, if asked ■ ‘Is P true?’ S would neither assent nor dissent. ■ *What do you make of P?’S would suspend judgment. ■BELIEF S has a belief that P just in case S accepts that P. Assuming that the circumstances are normal and S is sincere, if asked, ■ Is P trae?’S would assent ■ ‘What do you make of P?’ S would assert sentences such as ‘P,’ *P is true,’ add ‘It is the case tha^ P.’ Note that the definition of belief in Box 1 invoked normal circumstances and the speaker’s sincerity. In thwfhbsence, it may be that what a person S sa^s is not what she believes. Because there are deceivers (whose words misrepresent the beliefs they actually have) and self­ deceivers (who deny the beliefs they actually hdve), we must assume the speaker s sincerity when we draw a parallel between wHat she says'and what she believes. And becausd S might, out of coercion, delusion, or other' impairment, say soniethihg she doesn’t in fact believe, we must assume normal circumstances, which include the speaker’s being competent ^that is, not mentally compromised, threatened, or impaired in anyway. But what about those who simply don’t believe a certain proposition, such as (1) above? They may have either a disbelief or a nonbelief. A disbelief about (1) may be expressed by sentences such as (4) through (6): 4 Dogs are not carnivorous. 5 It is false that dogs are carnivorous. 6 It is not the case that dogs are carnivorous. Under normal circumstances, a person who sincerely says any of these disbelieves (1), which amounts to having the psychological attitude rejecting (1). If asked whether (1) is true, she Nonbelieving that P, then, amounts to lacking any belief or disbelief about P. The corre­ sponding psychological attitude is that of suspending judgment about P. We should bear in mind that whenever we are considering whether to accept or reject a proposition—^for example, that dogs are carnivorous—^there is also the option of nohbelief, which amounts to withholding belief about a proposition. Thinking logically can help in developing the most adequate attitude toward a proposition, whether that be accepting it, rejecting it, or suspending judgment about it. Deciding which is the correct attitude matters, since our beliefs are the building blocks of our reasoning. Here the rule is that, to keep the whole edifice sound, one must use high-quality building blocks and do regular maintenance. But how are we to tell which building blocks of reasoning are high-quality and which aren’t? That’s the topic of our next section. III » *8.'It is neither true nor false that galaxies afe flyihg outward. 9. friangles are not figures. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. II. What is a belief? And what do we call the content of a belief? What is the difference between a disbelief and a nonbelief? la nonbelief a kind of belief? If yes, why? If not, why not? i Think of two scenarios of your own where a person has a nonbelief. Is disbelief a kind of belief? If yes, why? If not, why not? In what does suspending judgment consist? , Why must the thinker's sincerity be assumed in order to take her statements to express her beliefs? Why must the thinker's competence be assumed in order to take her statements to express her beliefs? For each of the following, indicate whether it expresses a belief, a disbelief, or a nonbelief. ’ • ■ 1.1 accept that the Earth revolves. *10.1 am thinking. 11.1 am not thinking. *12. Is tlrere life after death? I cannot say. t3. UFOs do not exist. r *14.1'tTi agnostic about whether humans are the fSroduct of evolution or divine creation. 15. If Pjuto orbits the Sun, then it is a planet. IV. Your Ovm Thinking Lab *1. Explain why normal circumstances are a needed assumption in exercises (II) and (111) above. 2. Provide two examples of belief. SAMPLE ANSWER: Belief ,3. -Recast your examples as examples of disbelief. 2.1 reject that the Pope is in Rome. " , *3.1 neither accept nor reject that God exists. I 53 4. Prdvide two example^'of nonbeliefs. 5. Recast your examples of nonbelief as examples of belief. 4.1 think that it is false that cats are feline. *6. Suppose you were considering the proposition that there is life after death. What cognitive attitudes are your options? Report those attitudes. *5.'In my opinion, it is the case that Newton was smart. 6. I'm convinced that it is not the case that the Moon is bigger than the Earth. 3.2 Beliefs’ Virtues and Vices *7.1 suspend judgment about whether there is life after death. 8.1 neither accept nor reject the belief that there are UFOs. *9.1'm sure that Barack Obama is tall. 10. In my view, no zealots can be trusted. 1 III. Report the belief, disbelief, or nonbdiief expressed by each of the statements below. Avoid rdportinq a disbelief as a belief with a negation inside the fhaf-ciause. Among the traits or features of beliefs, some contribute to good reasoning and others to bad. M^e njay thinlj of the good-making features as virtues, and of the bad-making ones as vices. Prominent among the formei^ is the supervirtue of rationality, and among the latter, the supervice of irrationality. Why are these,so significant? Because rationality marks the limits of acceptable reasoning. Irrational beliefs are beyond that limit. In their case, the aims of reasoning are, as we’ll see, no longer achievable. In this section, we take up som^ virtues and vices of belief, leaving rationaUty and irrationality for the next sertion. The features of beliefs in our agenda how are those lisfed in Box 5. 1. The Earth is not a star. SAMPLE ANSWER; The disbelief that the Earth is a star. [Avoid reporting this as “the belief that the Earth is BOX 5 ■ BELIEF’S VIRTUES AND VICES not a star."] 2. It is not the case that the Earth is not a planet. 3. It is false that Earth is a staV. *4. It Is neither true nor false that the Sun will rise tomorrow. 5. Either the Earth is a star or it isn't. *6. The Earth is a planet. 7. It is not the case that the Earth is a planet: Virtues Accuracy Thrth Reasonableness Consistency Conservatism" Reusability " BELIEFS' VIRTUES AND VICES THE VIRTUES OF BELIEF . Review Qtifistinns______________________________________ ___________________ rs .2 Exercises Vices Inaccuracy Falsity Unreasonableness Inconsistency Dogmatism Relativism First, note that since logical thinkers wish to avoid beliefs with bad-making features, someone might think that it is advisable to avoid beliefs altogether. For if we didn’t have any beliefs at all, we wouldn’t have any beliefs with bad-making features! But this advice is selfdefeating, for it is not possible to avoid having beliefs. The very claim that logical thinkers are better off without beliefs itself expresses a belief, assuming that those who make it are sincere and competent. As logical thinkers, we must have some beliefs, so our aim should be simply to have as many beliefs with good-making features, and as few \;^ith bad-making features, as possible. Our aim, in other words, is that of maximizing the virtues and minimizing the vices of beliefs. To say that a belief has a virtue is to praise it—^while to say it has a vice is to criticize it. Let’s now take up each of the virtues and vices of beliefs. 3.3 Accuracy and Truth Accuracy and Inaccuracy To have an acceptable degree of accuracy, a belief must either represent, or get close to representing, the facts. In the former case, the belief is true—in the latter, merely approxi­ mately true or close to being true. The following belief represents things as they actually are, and it is therefore true: representing them as they are. A belief can fee mbre or less accurate-depending on how closeif is' to representing the facts as they are—that is, to getting them right. Bht sorhe beliefs could be accurate without being true. For example, , • , . 10 Frarice is hexagonal. 11 Lord Raglan won the Battle of Alma.^ (10) is roughly accurate, but not accurate enough to count as strictly true (not good enough for a cartographer!). Similarly, (11) is accurate, but should we say it’s true? Well, it’s approxi­ mately true. In fact, the battle was won by the British army, not just by its commander. Yet ifs no^ clearly wrong to say that “Lord-Raglan* won it.” These examples suggest that accurady and inaccuracy are a matter of degree: some beliefs are closer to (or father from) representing'the facts than others arfe. Some beliefs are thus more accufate (dr indccurafe) ftian others.‘Yet triith and falsity are not a mattdr of dbgree at all: each belief is either true or false. It makes no sense to say of a belief that it is ‘more trufe’ or ‘less true’ (or ‘falsfe^th^Aanother belief. A belief is either true or it isn’t. At the same time, both accuracy and'truth ar6 virtues that either a single belief or a set of beliefs may have (likewise for the vices of inaccuracy and falsity). > In the case of (12) and other beliefs that are vague, it is unclear whether they are true or • false, and also unclear whether they are accurate or inaccurate. 7 Brasilia is the capital of Brazil. True beliefs have the highest degree of accuracy. On the other hand, false beliefs have the high­ est degree of inaccuracy, simply because they neither represent, nor get close to representing, things as they actually are. For example, ,- 8 Rio is the capital of Brazil. i , 12 Queen Latifah is young. Caution is likewise needed for statements that express' evaluations such as’(i3)i-It 4s controversial among philosophers whether evaluative statements are capable of being true or false. Some such statements seem plainly true (“ilitler was evil”), otherS'less deSrly true than ■ Any belief'that denies (8), ^yhich is false, would be true. Thus, that Rio is not the capital of Brazil, and that it is not the case that Rio is the capital of Brazil; are both true—and therefore have’ihaximal acfcuracy. To determine this, we use the tule in Box 6. ' 1 r Truth ^nd Tafsity ■ - ' i. As logical thinkers, we should believe what is true and disbelieve what is false. But it is, often dif­ ficult to tell which beliefs are true and which are false. Thus sometimes we end up mistakenly believing what is false—as when people in the Middle Ages belieyed that 9 Thd Sun revolves around the Earth. They were, bf course, later shown to be mistaken: (9) was always false, and therefore inaccurate. For (9) not only fails to represent the facts truly, but (most cmcially) never even got close at all to BOX 6 ■ ACCURACY AND INACCURACY When a belief is tme, it has maximataccuracyjand when it is false, it has maximal inaccuracy. ■ II I ni,^ . ■ Tor more op puzzling examples of this sort, see J. L Austini 'Performative-Constatif (Za Philosophie Anafytique, Cahiers de Royaumont, fgfia). expressive of endorsement or attitudes of approval (“Frank Sinatra’s music is great”). Likewise in judgments of taste such as ‘who- has mastered the cdncepts, ‘brother’ and ‘male sibling.’ Thus (16) and (17) are both reasonable, since each is supported by adequate reasoning' alone. S 13 Ford Mustangs are better looking than Chevrolet (Corvettes. 3n- In cases of this sort, we’ll adopt the convention of simply indicating that they are statements of value (more on this in Chapter 4). 3.4 Reasonableness Beliefs that may fall short of being true, and even accurate, could still be reasonable. How-is this possible? To answer that question, let us consider the virtue of reasonableness aqd,the vice of unreasonableness, which, like accuracy and inaccuracy, are features that either a single belief or a set of beliefs can have, and which come in degrees: some beliefs are more reason­ able (or unreasonable) than others. Their, degree of, reasonableness depends on how much’ support of the adequate type they possess. ^'.belief is reasonable if.anddnlyj£ithassadequate^pport- Otherwise,dt is.unreasoWable. Tf, , ckb... f ,, Beliefs of different types are supported in different ways. Thus how a belief might attain reasonableness jvould vary according to its type. Since, we’ll consider here only two kinds of beliefs, empirical and conceptual, we’ll abstain, for* the time being, from judging the reasonableness of other types Pf beliefs: for example, of beliefs that are value judgments such as (13) above. Two Kinds of Reasonableness What’s required for a belief to be reasonable varies according to what sort of belief it is.. Consider 14 Fido is barking. 15 Dogs bark. (14) and (15) can be supported only by observation and are therefore empirical beliefs (‘empirical’ means observational). The kind of support needed for beliefs of this sort to be reasonable differs from that of nonobservational beliefs. Among the latter are conceptual beliefs, which may be supported by reasoning alone. For example, •i. 16 7 5 = 12 17 A brother is a male sibling.The grounds for (16) and (17) are conceptual: it is sufficient to understand the concepts involved to realize that each of these beliefs is true. The truth of (16) is clear to anyone who Has mastered the numbers and the coKcep'f bf 'a“dditi. ■* S I ■ A con^E{ujl.b^i^.i| Treasonable if and ojnl^if|ill that’s needed to realize that the belief is | trae is t(^artef the-concepts involved. \ | A reasonable conceptual belief, then, is one whose truth goes without saying once we understand the content of the belief. j By contrast, (14) and (15) are not eligible for this kind of support: they require the support of observation or evidence. In which circumstances would (14) or (15) be unreasonable? Suppose that someone believes falsely that her dog, Fido, is barking now. That is, she believes '(14) even though she knows that Fido has been mute fdr many years. When challenged, she engages in what is plainly a case of wishful thinking: her desire that Fido could bark somehow mcdces her believe that the dog is barking. In this scenario, (14) would |je unreasonable, simply •because it’s an empirical'belief arid the rule is i ff, I To be reasonable, empincal,'Deuefs must be supported either by evicfence^or by inference ■‘j r . It from evidence. As we saw in Chapter 2, evidence is the outcome of observation, which is provided by the sensory experiences of seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and/or smelling. Thus if as a result of ■seeing Fido’s barking behavior and hearing him barking one>comes to believe (14), then that sensory experience itself would count as evidence for (14), thus rendering it reasonable to believe (in the absence of evidence to the contrary). Trustworthy testimony also counts as evidence, since we may consider it vicarious Observation/ Being 'supported By the evidence, then, is all that’s usually needed for a belief li]ce (14) to,be reasonable. On the other hand, for beliefs such as (15) to be reasonable, inference from evidence is required. After all, (15) amounts to 15'All dogs bark. This belief is supported by the evidence and by other beliefs based on the available evidence. The evidence consists in the observation that many dogs bark, from which one can infer that all dogs bark. That is, one would need more than simply the firsthand evidence from observing some barking dogs to support (15'). After all, it is impossible to observe dll barking dogs. What else, apart from evidence, is contributing to its support? Other beliefs are required, such as ,jns18 A great number of dogs have been observed. -19 They all barked. 22 Dorothy Maloney is not a public official.' (20), (21), and (22) make up an inconsistent set, since it is impossible for aU rts members to b true at the same time:- clearly, no one could be a senator while at the same time failmg to be a 'public official. We may now say that tA set ofibelieSis consistentif and ojilyif its membejs-couldaU*e iMiffat oncel fti j, f a Tosaythatsome beliefs are consistent is to say that they are logically compatiWeCbnlpatible On the basis of (i8) and (19), it is reasonable to think that dogs bwk. But if (15) is supported>by (18) and (19), then the relation among these is that ,of inference: (15) is inferred from (18) and (19). For empirical beliefs, then, evidence and inference from evidence are the two standard routes to reasonableness. For conceptual beliefs, the route is reasoning alone. Empirical and conceptual beliefs that lack the adequate kind of support would suffer from a substantial degree of unreasonableness. Yet keep in mind that, for beliefs of other types, the criteria of reasonableness may be different. 3.5 Consistency Accuracy, truth, and reasonableness are virtues a single belief may have. Consistency, on the other hand, is a virtue that only a set of beliefs, two or more of them, can havei—and likewise for the vice of inconsistency. But what does ‘consistency’ mean? beUefs need not in fact be true: it is sufficientthat they could ^ be true at ^ actuaUy false could make up a perfectly consistent or compatible set if they could all be true m some possible scenario. Logically Possible Propositions Consider, for example, a set made up of 23 Arnold Schwarzenegger is a medical doctor. 24 Pigs fly. (23) and (24) could both be true at once in some logicaUy possible scenario or world. Our world, wWch we’ll caU the ‘actual world,’ is just one apiong many world? that are logicahy possibl^ where a world is logicaUy possible if it does not involve any contradiction. LogicaUy impossible worlds make no sense and are therefore unthinkable. We can .also say that a proposition logicaUy possible when it meets the condition in Box 9. Defining ^Consistency’ and ‘Inconsistency’ Rm^^^GICALLY POSSIBLE. PROPOSITION A good place to start for'a definition of‘consistency’ is ‘inconsistency,’ since a set of beliefs is consistent just ill case it is not inconsistent. So, let’s begin with ‘inconsistency,’ defined thus: A proposition is logicaUy possible if and only if it involves no contradiction. Logically Impossible Propositions Propositions that are not thinkable at aU are logicaUy impossible, necessarUy false, or absurd, as iUustrated by each of the foUowing: Consider (20) and (21), 25 AU pigs are mammals, but some pigs are not maminals. 20 Dorothy Maloney is a senator. 26 Arnold Schwarzenegger is a medical doctor and he isnt. 21 DorothyMaloney is ajogger. 27 Arnold Schwarzefieggfer is a married bachelor. These could both be true at the same time: Dorothy Maloney c6uld be both senator and a jogger. But suppose we add the belief that _ • ,.5 > Propositions of this sort are self-contradictions. ■ SELF-CONTRADICTION h *•*« 1 ^ ' * •A set of beliefe'is consistent if and only if ■ There is a logically possible world where its members could all be true at once. ■ A proposition is self-contraof our minds then given condition (i), those beliefs can be neither rational nor irrational. Current conscious beliefs, on the other hand, must be either rational or irrational, depending on whether or not they satisfy conditions (a) and (3). Given (2), the rationality of beliefs requires that the thinker be able to account for them. Given (3), rationality requires that the thinker not be aware of her beliefs’ failing in accuracy, truth, reasonableness, consistency, conser­ vatism, and/or reusability. Suppose a thinker is currently, consciously entertaining these 'I VIII.The following statements are all accurate, but none is actually true. Explain for each one why that is. 14. {In some countries, abortion Is illegal. But in those countries, execution is legal.} *15. {2+2i=4. Sisters are male siblings.} SAMPLE ANSWER; Not true, because Magellan was killed halfway through the voyage, but he is credited with the circumnavigation of the Earth. *2. Prince Charles is the future king of Great Britain. 3. The United States won World War II. *4. The Vikings discovered America. *5. Russia was the first country to orbit the Earth. 6. Argentina invented the ball-point pen. ‘7. Italy is a boot. X. For each of the following statements, determine whether its content is empirical, conceptual, or other. For statements that are ‘other,’ explain why they are in this category. {Hint; In each case, ask yourself, which sort of reasons would matter to determining whether the belief is true? Reasoning alone? Empirical evidence? Or matters of value?) 1. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. SAMPLE ANSWER: Empirical 2. ‘Sister’ means ‘female sibling.’ *3.5-1-7 = 12 4. Madonna is taller than Lady Gaga. iX. The foliowing sets of statements express either consistent or inconsistent beiiefs. First, say which is which, and then, for any inconsistent set, indicate whether it has contradictory beiiefs, at ieast one necessarily false belief, or both. (Tip: Remember that the actual world is one among many logically possible worlds that matter for consistency.) 1. {The fetus is a person and abortion is wrong. Convicts on death row are also persons, but capital punishment is not wrong.} *5. If Everest is taller than Aconcagua, then Aconcagua is not taller than Everest. 6. Some mushrooms are tasty. *7. Poverty is inhumane. *8. There is no life on Mars. 9. Jazz Is intolerable. 10. There are UFOs. SAMPLE ANSWER: Consistent. By modifying ‘person’ with ‘innocent’ in the first case and ’guilty’ in the second, any appearance of contradictory beliefs is eliminated. 2. {God exists. There is no deity.) *3. {All students in Philosophy 101 are juniors. Some students in Philosophy 101 are freshmen.} 4. {All bachelors are married men. No bachelor is married.} *5. {Helen is a sister. The Earth is a waterless planet.} 6. {The present king of France is bald. Triangles have four internal angles.} *7. {The Earth is flat. The Earth is not flat.} 8. {New York City is the capital of the United States. New York City is in the state of New York. Snow is white.} *9. {Some people don’t like Picasso’s paintings. Everybody likes Picasso’s paintings.} 10. {No young-dog is a puppy. Some young dogs are puppies.} *11. {It is false that there is a number' that is the larg'est number. Bachelors are unmarried men.} 12. {Lincoln was not assassinated. Homicide is legal in the United States.} *13. {Bert was once in Romania. Bert was never in Romania.} *11. Cookies are delicious. 12. A straight line is the shortest path between two points. *13. Earth is the center of the universe. 14. Some forms of nonwestern medicine are worth considering. *15. There is life after death. XI. Given the state of our knowledge today, each of the following is either conservative or nonconservative. Indicate which is which. 1. We are all aliens from another planet. SAMPLE ANSWER: Nonconservative 2.2 +2 = 4 *3. The Earth will stop rotating tomorrow. 4. All pigeons are robots in disguise. *5. If a figure Is a rectangle, then it is not a circle. 6. Puppies are young dogs. 3.7 RATIONALITY VS. IRRATIONALITY 1. Magellan circumnavigateci the Earth. THE VIRTUES OF BELIEF i 67 . *7. Whales are fish. 8. The Earth is flat. *9. Chickens can’t fly long distances. 10. The lines of your palm contain information about your future. 5. Write>thre6 sets of inconsistent beliefs. v ’ 6. Protagoras of Abdera (Greek, c. 490-421 B.C.E.) argued that “man p.e., human beings] is' the m^ure of all things—of things that are, that' they are, and of things that are not, that they are not. As a thing appears to a man, so it is.” How does this amount to a relativist position? What sbrt of objections might be brought against it? *11. There are no witches. *13. Sarah Palin is a Democrat. 14. Alabama is a southern state. *15. There are out-of-body experiences. XII. Determine whether the following combinations of propositions are rational or irrational: 1.1 know that a bachelor can’t be married. Yet I’m a married bachelor. SAMPLE ANSWER: Irrational 2. I’m aware that Jane was childless in 1989, but now she has four grandchildreni *3.1 do believe that elephants are extinct and that they aren’t extinct. 4. In my view, God does not exist—and neither do angels. *5. Although there are no good reasons for believing that the end of the universe is coming, I believe it is. 6.1 believe that all cats are felines and Jhat some cats are not felines. Furthermore, I believe that these beliefs are contradictory. > *7. As a zoologist, I have no doubts that cats are felines and that all felines are mammals. I’m not aware of these beliefs being defective. 8.1 have never seen muskrats. Moreover, I have never acquired any information whatsoever about them. As far as I’m concerned, they are rodents. *9. There is no evidence that there is an afterlife. Yet I prefer to believe that there is. 10.1 believe that Mario and Lucille have a romantic relationship. Yes, Brian says that they do, but he is not a reliable source of information about who is dating whom. But I learned about their relationship from a trustworthy source. XIII. Your Own Thinking Lab 1. Give three examples of irrational belief. 2. Explain why your examples for (1) above are irrational. What would be required to make them rational? 3. Provide a scenario in which a thinker is a dogmatist. 4. Provide a scenario in which a thinker is a relativist. ■ Writing Project choose one of the following two projects and write a short composition: 1. A nonsense essay, where you describe three logically impossible scenarios, and then explain why they are logically impossible. 2. Consider the passage below, from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. “I can’t believe that!” said Alice. “Can’t you?” the Queen said-in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.” Alice laughed. ‘“There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes. I’ve believed as many as sue impossible things before breakfast.” Write a short essay where you explain Alice’s refusal’s to believe impossible things. You may invoke the virtue of conservatism, explaining what it is and how it sometimes leads to refusing to believe things that one “sees.” ■ Chapter Summary Belief: a psychological attitude of accepting a proposition. Disbelief: a psychological attitude of rejecting a proposition. Nonbeliefe the lack of a psychological attitude of accepting or rejecting a proposition. Virtue: a good-making trait. Vice: a bad-making trait. Accuracy: a belief’s virtue of being either true or close to being tme. Related vice: inaccuracy. A matter of degree. TVuth: a belief’s virtue of representing the facts as they are. Related vice; falsity. Not a matter of degree. Reasonableness: for an empirical belief, the virtue of being supported by evidence, or infer­ ence from evidence; for a conceptual belief, that of being based on good reasons. Related vice: unreasonableness. A matter of degree. Consistency: virtue of a set of beliefs insofar as they could all be true at once. Related vice: inconsistency. Not a matter of degree. CHAPTER SUMMARY 12. Water is H2O. 69 ’’""® “ °‘’“ *“ -lativisn, THE VIRTUES OF BELIEF ^ Part me reason to support it and is not aware of the belief's having any of the listed vices. Related supervice: irrationality, When a belief is irrational, that’s a compelling reason to reject it. t ( ■ Key Words Belief Disbelief Nonbelief • Accuracy Tiruth Reasonableness Consistency Contradiction Self-contradiction ' Conservatism Dogmatism Extreme relativism Revisability Rationality t t « ^ % * Reason and Argument 3
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25 Multiple Choice Questions. PHILOSOPHY 101

Question 1:"At least 50 people in Oregon and Michigan developed severe stomach disorders after eating
hamburgers at McDonald's" could be the direct expression of
1.
2.
3.

[X] a belief
a disbelief
a non-belief

Question 2:"I suspend judgment about whether mind and body are the same thing" could be the direct
expression of
1.
2.
3.

a belief
a disbelief
[X] a non-belief

Question 3:"In my previous life I was a soldier in the army of Napoleon" could be the direct expression of
1.
2.
3.

[X] a belief
a disbelief
a non-belief

Question 4:"We cannot tell whether or not there are more divorces in Canada than in the US" could be the
direct expression of
1.
2.
3.

a belief
[X] a disbelief
a non-belief

Question 5: "It...


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