Alief (mental state) explained

In philosophy and psychology, an alief is an automatic or habitual belief-like attitude, particularly one that is in tension with a person's explicit beliefs.[1] For example, a person standing on a transparent balcony may believe that they are safe, but alieve that they are in danger. A person watching a sad movie may believe that the characters are completely fictional, but their aliefs may lead them to cry nonetheless. A person who is hesitant to eat fudge that has been formed into the shape of feces, or who exhibits reluctance in drinking from a sterilized bedpan may believe that the substances are safe to eat and drink, but may alieve that they are not.

The term alief was introduced by Tamar Gendler, a professor of philosophy and cognitive science at Yale University, in a pair of influential articles published in 2008.[2] Since the publication of these original articles, the notion of alief has been utilized by Gendler and others—including Paul Bloom[3] and Daniel Dennett[4] —to explain a range of psychological phenomena in addition to those listed above, including the pleasure of stories, the persistence of positive illusions, certain religious beliefs,[5] and certain psychiatric disturbances, such as phobias and obsessive–compulsive disorder.

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Notes and References

  1. Gendler . Tamar Szabó . 2008 . Alief and Belief . Journal of Philosophy . 105 . 10 . 634–663 . 10.5840/jphil20081051025 . 0022-362X.
  2. Web site: Philosopher's Annual . Philosophersannual.org . 2010-05-27.
  3. Book: Bloom, Paul . 2011 . How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like . W. W. Norton & Co . 978-0393340006 . Paul Bloom (psychologist).
  4. T. McKay . Ryan . Dennett . Daniel . 2009 . The Evolution of Misbelief . Behavioral and Brain Sciences . 32 . 6 . 10.1017/S0140525X09990975 . 20105353 . 493–510 . 2763525 .
  5. K. Mitch Hodge. On Imagining the Afterlife. 2011. Journal of Cognition and Culture. 11. 3–4. 367–389. 10.1163/156853711X591305.