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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
In the last chapter I suggested that there is a level of mental activity which constitutively involves the formation and execution of policies of premising. In the present chapter I shall explore this idea in more detail, describing the shape of these premising policies, the role language plays in them, their relation to lower-level mental states, and their influence on action. Although the account takes its start from Cohen's claims about acceptance and goal adoption, the aim is not to explicate his position, but to find the most satisfactory development of the ideas he introduces.
PREMISING POLICIES
In this part of the chapter I shall outline the general shape of various kinds of premising policies and premising dispositions, building on and modifying Cohen's characterizations.
Acceptance
Recall Cohen's characterization of acceptance. To accept that p is, he says,
to have or adopt a policy of deeming, positing, or postulating that p – i.e. of including that proposition or rule among one's premisses for deciding what to do or think in a particular context.
(Cohen 1992, p. 4)That is to say, acceptance involves a behavioural commitment; to accept something is to commit oneself to a policy of action. The general idea here is not new: as we saw, Dennett holds that forming an opinion involves embarking on a policy of linguistic action.
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