The Will in Belief

Key Points

Belief in the face of strong evidence leads to dogmatism, which undermines knowledge.
The analysis introduces a new variant of the classic dogmatism puzzle, called the revenge puzzle.
It presents a unified solution to these revenge puzzles, reshaping our understanding of belief.
The work suggests that belief involves the will, which could change future discussions on dogmatism.

Abstract

It’s bad to hang on to a belief in the face of good evidence that it’s false. That makes you dogmatic. Enter the classic dogmatism puzzle. The standard response? Go for defeat: new evidence can destroy old knowledge. But there are variants on the classic dogmatism puzzle which defeat can’t help with. Worse still, these puzzles threaten to undermine the standard defeatist solution to the classic puzzle. Call these the revenge puzzles. Two are already noted in the literature. In this paper, I introduce a third, particularly severe revenge puzzle. I then present a unified solution to the revenge puzzles. The solution motivates a boldly revisionary conception of belief: one on which belief involves the will.

The Will in Belief

Key Points

Abstract

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