Too much ado about belief

Authors: Dokic, Jérôme¹; Pacherie, Elisabeth²

Source: Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Volume 6, Numbers 1-2, March 2007 , pp. 185-200(16)

Publisher: Springer

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Abstract:

Three commitments guide Dennett's approach to the study of consciousness. First, an ontological commitment to materialist monism. Second, a methodological commitment to what he calls `heterophenomenology.' Third, a `doxological' commitment that can be expressed as the view that there is no room for a distinction between a subject's beliefs about how things seem to her and what things actually seem to her, or, to put it otherwise, as the view that there is no room for a reality/appearance distinction for consciousness. We investigate how Dennett's third doxological commitment relates to his first two commitments and whether its acceptance should be seen as a mere logical consequence of acceptance of the first two. We will argue that this is not the case, that Dennett's doxological commitment is in need of independent motivation, and that this independent motivation is not forthcoming.

Keywords: consciousness; monism; heterophenomenology; belief; doxological commitment

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11097-006-9036-9

Affiliations: 1: Email: dokic@ehess.fr 2: Email: pacherie@ens.fr

Publication date: 2007-03-01