Analysis Of Against Alief Introduction: In the article, “Against Alief,” Eric Mandelbaum argues that the revolutionary power of Tamar Gendler’s aliefs are counterfactual. Mandelbaum argues that robust notions of alief, aliefs with propositional content, do not differ from psychological states we already countenance, particularly belief. Therefore, we shouldn’t countenance aliefs. Here I will show that beliefs, or any other previously countenanced psychological state, do not capture the reality of what we experience during states of associatively linked content. Also I will show that we should countenance aliefs because they are our evolutionary controls for natural selection. Summary: Mandelbaum presents the notion of a robust alief, …show more content…
Furthermore, aliefs can be categorized as occurrent or dispositional. Mandelbaum is particularly interested in how we apply “associative” to Gendler’s concept of alief. Is “associative” only describing the relation between the representational, affective, and behavioral states? Or is the representational content itself associative? Mandelbaum points out that Gendler allows the use of associative in both scenarios, where the associative representational content can be propositional, non-propositional, conceptual, or nonconceptual. Mandelbaum argues that if the associative representational content of aliefs can be propositional, it is no different than other psychological states, particularly belief. If aliefs are not distinct from other psychological states we already countenance, there can be no robust notions of …show more content…
Suppose there is a realistic life size tiger in your bed. Upon the first time entering the room, Mandelbaum’s belief mirovalences prepare your body for flight or fight. You believe that there is a tiger in your bed. Your friend pops out and tells you it is a stuffed tiger. You form the belief that it is a stuffed tiger. Later, you walk into the room and see the tiger again. Your body prepares you for flight or fight. (If it is hard to see the significance here, substitute a tiger for something that you are afraid of, perhaps a lifelike