I’ve already read Gendler on the subject, and it occurred to me to make the comparison, but her alief is different from my unofficial belief. Specifically, alief is the gut reaction itself and an unofficial belief would be something that is derived from such an alief (although each term has broader applications than that).
Hmm, now I’m confused. What’s the difference between an alief causing you to react in ways that on reflection you reject as unjustified, versus an alief giving rise to an “unofficial belief” that has the same effects? What distinctive work is this second kind of mental state doing?
Without getting to the bottom of it, the distinction seems to be that the beliefs you’re describing can be ‘candidates’ to be official beliefs (with enough evidence), while Gendler’s ‘aliefs’ are basically emotional reactions that might lead to a belief, but it’s content is not intellectual by itself. It’s a thin line though.
Alicorn—you should check out Gendler’s distinction between ‘alief’ and ‘belief’.
I’ve already read Gendler on the subject, and it occurred to me to make the comparison, but her alief is different from my unofficial belief. Specifically, alief is the gut reaction itself and an unofficial belief would be something that is derived from such an alief (although each term has broader applications than that).
Hmm, now I’m confused. What’s the difference between an alief causing you to react in ways that on reflection you reject as unjustified, versus an alief giving rise to an “unofficial belief” that has the same effects? What distinctive work is this second kind of mental state doing?
I’ll try to find time to re-read her article and clarify for you further.
Without getting to the bottom of it, the distinction seems to be that the beliefs you’re describing can be ‘candidates’ to be official beliefs (with enough evidence), while Gendler’s ‘aliefs’ are basically emotional reactions that might lead to a belief, but it’s content is not intellectual by itself. It’s a thin line though.