Keywords
singular propositions
referentialism
possible-world semantics
indexicals
Abstract
DOI: http://doi.org/10.26333/sts.xxx1.07
Self-locating beliefs are problematic for the popular theory according to which a belief is a two-argument relation between a thinker and a proposition. The theory does not explain the cognitive value of self-locating beliefs and their impact on behavior. Self-locating beliefs seem to be irreducible to singular beliefs about oneself, because one might have the latter without having the former. David Lewis, John Perry, and Robert Stalnaker each proposed a different solution to the problem. Stalnaker ? unlike Perry and Lewis ? defends the traditional theory of beliefs. His solution requires an assumption that a lack of self-locating belief can always be represented as ignorance with regard to which world is the actual one. I discuss Clas Weber?s arguments against this solution.
References
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