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Unreal Beliefs

An Anti-Realist Approach in the Metaphysics of Mind

Unreal Beliefs cover

Unreal Beliefs

An Anti-Realist Approach in the Metaphysics of Mind

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Description

Krzysztof Poslajko offers a novel version of an anti-realist view about beliefs, rejecting the extreme proposal of eliminativism that beliefs do not exist. He shows us we should rather say that beliefs exist, but they are not real.

Poslajko demonstrates how we might make sense of this idea by providing a unified account of the debates in philosophical psychology. The antirealist view interprets beliefs as being causally irrelevant, that they do not constitute a natural kind, and that their content cannot be naturalized. Exploring the status of folk psychology, Poslajko raises key questions in the analytic metaphysics of mind: Are beliefs real? Do people really possess mental states which are causally efficacious bearers of propositional content?

By arguing for the antirealist view and revising our common-sense view about the nature of mind, he makes a compelling case for adopting a pragmatic metaphilosophy when we deal with questions about belief.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Existing Anti-Realist Approaches
3. The Deflationary Gambit
4. Belief Realism and Anti-Realism Reconsidered
5. Inspirations
6. Reasons For Non-Realism
7. Minimal Non-Realism and Common Sense
8. Possible Charges
9. Consequences
10. Conclusion References
References
Index

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 11 Dec 2025
Format Paperback
Edition 1st
Extent 208
ISBN 9781350355002
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Series Mind, Meaning and Metaphysics
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Krzysztof Poslajko

Krzysztof Poslajko is Associate Professor of Philo…

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