Doxastic Voluntarism and the Ethics of Belief

Abstract

Abstract Attempts to find a place for an ethics of belief given that belief is not under voluntary control. Distinguishes between a behavioral and a genetic version of doxastic voluntarism and rejects both. According to the writer, belief formation is not causing oneself to believe something, but simply a belief's forming. How, then, can there be an ethics of belief? Suggests the following: We may say that it is morally objectionable to conduct one's intellectual life sloppily, and that we should accept an epistemic obligation to be attentive to one's evidence, from where we will be led to an ethics of inquiry.

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