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A Moorean paradox of desire

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Wall, D. (2012) A Moorean paradox of desire. Philosophical Explorations. 15(1), pp. 63-84. 1386-9795.
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Creators:Wall, D.
Abstract:
Moore's paradox is a paradox in which certain kinds of belief or assertion, such as a belief that ‘it is raining and I do not believe that it is raining’, are irrational despite involving no obvious contradiction in what is believed. But is there a parallel paradox involving other kinds of attitude, in particular desire? I argue that certain kinds of desire would be irrational to have for similar, distinctive reasons that having Moorean beliefs would be irrational to have. Hence, I argue that such desires, a desire that ‘one have a particular desire that was frustrated’ or a desire that ‘some state of affairs obtain about which one was indifferent’, are a parallel Moorean paradox of desire. I further argue that this analogous paradox has implications for practical reasoning, in particular by presenting a problem for instrumentalism about the objects of desire.
Official URL:http://www.tandfonline.com/action/aboutThisJournal...
Item Type:Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:Moore’s paradox, desire, belief, instrumentalism, philosophy of mind, philosophy of action
Subjects:B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) > B790 Modern > B850 By region or country > B1647.M74 Moore
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BD Speculative Philosophy > BD418.3 Philosophy of mind
Schools and Departments:School of Social Sciences
School of Social Sciences > Sociology
DOI:10.1080/13869795.2012.646937
Date:2012
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