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Paradoxical Desires.

Authors :
Jerzak, Ethan
Source :
Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society (Paperback). Oct2019, Vol. 119 Issue 3, p335-355. 21p.
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

I present a paradoxical combination of desires. I show why it's paradoxical, and consider ways of responding. The paradox saddles us with an unappealing trilemma: either we reject the possibility of the case by placing surprising restrictions on what we can desire, or we deny plausibly constitutive principles linking desires to the conditions under which they are satisfied, or we revise some bit of classical logic. I argue that denying the possibility of the case is unmotivated on any reasonable way of thinking about mental content, and rejecting those desire-satisfaction principles leads to revenge paradoxes. So the best response is a non-classical one, according to which certain desires are neither determinately satisfied nor determinately not satisfied. Thus, theorizing about paradoxical propositional attitudes helps constrain the space of possibilities for adequate solutions to semantic paradoxes more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00667374
Volume :
119
Issue :
3
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society (Paperback)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
139136901
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1093/arisoc/aoz003