Moore's Paradox: New Essays on Belief, Rationality, and the First PersonMitchell S. Green, John N. Williams Clarendon Press, 2007 M01 11 - 260 pages G. E. Moore famously observed that to assert, 'I went to the pictures last Tuesday but I don't believe that I did' would be 'absurd'. Moore calls it a 'paradox' that this absurdity persists despite the fact that what I say about myself might be true. Over half a century later, such sayings continue to perplex philosophers and other students of language, logic, and cognition. Ludwig Wittgenstein was fascinated by Moore's example, and the absurdity of Moore's saying was intensively discussed in the mid-20th century. Yet the source of the absurdity has remained elusive, and its recalcitrance has led researchers in recent decades to address it with greater care. In this definitive treatment of the problem of Moorean absurdity Green and Williams survey the history and relevance of the paradox and leading approaches to resolving it, and present new essays by leading thinkers in the area. Contributors Jonathan Adler, Bradley Armour-Garb, Jay D. Atlas, Thomas Baldwin, Claudio de Almeida, André Gallois, Robert Gordon, Mitchell Green, Alan Hájek, Roy Sorensen, John Williams |
Contents
II MOORES PARADOX AND KNOWLEDGE | 51 |
III MOORES PARADOX BELIEF AND ASSERTION | 115 |
IV MOORES PARADOX AND CONSCIOUSNESS | 163 |
V ARGUMENTS FROM MOORES PARADOX | 215 |
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acceptance according actually Analysis appears argument assertion assume assumption attitude believe that not-p Cambridge claim commissive commitment conclusion condition conjunct consciously believing consequences consider contradiction desire discussion distinction don’t believe entails evidence example exists explain express fact fail false first-person further given governor of California Gray Davis hold implies impossible incoherence inconsistent infer instance intention interpretation iteration John judgment justified justified in believing kind knowledge least linguistic logical manifest matter meaning mental mind Moore Moore’s Paradox Moorean absurdity namely norms objection omissive one’s Oxford person Philosophical position possible pragmatic present pretense principle probability problem proposition question raining rationality re-elected governor reason refer relation represents requires seems sense sentence sincere speaker speech act statement subjective suggestion Suppose Syracuse theory things thought true truth University Press utterance violation Wittgenstein York