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Carmelics
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    Carmelics

    A reasoning platform. Break down any belief into clear reasons, explore both sides, and weigh the evidence honestly.

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    LoyalLoyalJusticeJustice
    Made withinDC&Austin
    Statements
    321,452
    Perspectives
    108,905
    Topics
    42
    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that Animals cannot have beliefs.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Davidson's requirement that belief-possession demands linguistic competence conflates the *expression* of beliefs with their *existence* as functional states.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Behavioral and neurological evidence shows animals form internal representations that guide goal-directed action in ways functionally identical to belief.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.If a state functions as a belief—guiding inference, being updated by evidence, influencing behavior—it is a belief, regardless of whether it is linguistically expressible.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
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    • 1.Stich's 'subdoxastic states' and Dennett's intentional stance both demonstrate that attributing belief-like states to animals yields predictively successful explanatory frameworks.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.The criterion that belief requires the *concept of belief* commits a category error: one need not meta-represent a mental state in order to instantiate it, just as one need not know anatomy to digest food.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Having beliefs requires possessing the concept of belief.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.Possessing the concept of belief requires language.
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      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Animals do not have language.
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    Strongest counterpoint
    Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.