Metaphysics (Sep 2014)
Considering Bernard Williams\'s Slogan \'belief aims at truth\'
Abstract
There are two rival accounts about belief in the literature of philosophy, one is the teleological account and the other is the normative account. Defenders of the teleological account and most defenders of the normative one typically take the accounts as interpretations of Bernard Williams's slogan. The slogan holds that 'belief aims at truth'. In this paper, I will first clarify the teleological and normative accounts of belief. I will also argue that the teleological account and versions of the normative account taken as interpretation of Williams's slogan are implausible for they neither can give sense to some intrinsic features of belief nor can give sense to some well-known philosophical principles in the literature. On the basis of my arguments against the teleological and normative accounts, I will end by proposing some evidence against Williams's slogan.
