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Belief and Judgment

We believe many things about the world around us. We also make conscious judgments as to how things are. Much philosophical attention has been devoted to belief; judgment has been relatively neglected. This entry sketches central themes in discussions of both, emphasizing their joint importance.

Propositions

Beliefs and judgments are relations to propositions. If John and Jean, respectively, utter the sentences “Paris is extraordinary” and “Paris est extraordinaire,” they both say the same thing with their different words. If Jean and John both believe (or judge) what they say, they both believe (judge) the same thing. In philosophical parlance, they stand in the believing (or judging) relation toward the proposition expressed by their sentences, namely, that Paris is extraordinary. Other mental states and acts exhibit this form. If Amandine desires that her steak is blue, she stands in the desire relation toward the proposition that her steak is blue.

Beliefs and judgments are true or false depending on the truth or falsity of their objects. We talk of believing in ghosts or believing a person. Because ghosts and people are not themselves true or false, philosophers typically assume that all belief talk can be reconstructed employing propositional complements apt for truth-evaluation. If Keith believes in ghosts, he believes that ghosts exist. If Jennifer believes Jude, she believes that Jude is telling the truth.

Controversial issues arise in individuating beliefs and judgments. Here is one problem case from Saul Kripke. Peter fails to realize that Paderewski is both a Polish statesman and a pianist. With the pianist in mind, Peter sincerely states, “Paderewski has musical talent.” With the politician in mind, and believing that all politicians are entirely unmusical, Peter sincerely declares, “Paderewski has no musical talent.” Peter seems to make contradictory claims. Given his sincerity, does this reveal contradictory beliefs? If so, it would show strikingly that no matter how rational and reflective Peter is, he can unwittingly harbor contradictory beliefs and, indeed, consciously entertain contradictory judgments.

Belief versus Judgment

Judgments are occurrent, conscious events. One cannot judge anything during dreamless sleep. In contrast, beliefs are standing attitudes or enduring states. Beliefs can be retained for years without once crossing one's mind. Beliefs can be acquired and lost. But these events must not be identified with the beliefs themselves. Judgments often lead to the acquisition (or loss) of a belief. Thus, I may work out the formula for the surface area of a sphere and conclude that the answer is 4πr2. This judgment may lead me to acquire the belief that the formula is 4πr2. However, judgments do not always lead to belief acquisition. In an oral exam, my judgment may simply manifest my long-standing belief that 4πr2 is the formula. Moreover, already believing that the formula is 4πr2 because my professor has told me, I can set out to prove it to myself. If successful, that process will end in the judgment that 4πr2 is the formula, but no new belief is acquired.

Is judgment always the acquisition or manifestation of belief? An example adapted from Christopher Peacocke suggests not. A department head sincerely judges that gender is no indication of applicant quality. However, for years, his hiring behavior has consistently favored male candidates over equally qualified female candidates. Although he judges that gender is no indication of applicant quality, he seems to believe otherwise.

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