Transparency and past beliefs

A number of recent philosophers have argued that our first-personal access to our beliefs is explained by the fact that we make transparent transitions: causal transitions between worldly mental states and second-order beliefs based on those worldly mental states. In this paper, I argue (i) that our first-personal access to some past beliefs cannot be explained by transparent transitions and (ii) that this casts doubt on the view that our first-personal access to any of our beliefs, past or present, is explained by transparent transitions. I argue further that the same problem arises for transitional theories for other mental states, such as desires.