From reasons for emotion to reasons for belief and back

Abstract

This discussion of Miriam Schleifer McCormick’s book, Belief as Emotion, focuses on two key aspects of Schleifer McCormick’s view. I examine the picture of emotions and their fittingness conditions that emerges from the book, especially the claim that belief’s formal object as an emotion is accuracy and what this entails for belief’s world-directedness. I then turn to the central normative move Schleifer McCormick makes in suggesting that viewing belief as an emotion allows us to license right-kind, practical reasons for belief. I raise questions about this move, which lead us back to a reflection on belief’s formal object. I close with a methodological point, touching briefly on the chapter on trust.