scholarly journals Interpretative expressivism: A theory of normative belief

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James L. D. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Propositional Attitudes ◽  
Normative Belief ◽  
Normative Beliefs ◽  
Belief Content

AbstractMetaethical expressivism is typically characterised as the view that normative statements express desire-like attitudes instead of beliefs. However, in this paper I argue that expressivists should claim that normative statements express beliefs in normative propositions, and not merely in some deflationary sense but in a theoretically robust sense explicated by a theory of propositional attitudes. I first argue that this can be achieved by combining an interpretationist understanding of belief with a nonfactualist view of normative belief content. This results in a view I call ‘interpretative expressivism’. I then argue that traditional arguments employed by expressivists that normative statements express noncognitive attitudes can just as well support the claim that normative statements express nonfactual or nonrepresentational beliefs. Finally, I argue that this view has a number of advantages to versions of expressivism that deny that normative statements express non-deflationary normative beliefs.

scholarly journals The Influence of Normative Beliefs on Tax-Payers Attitude and Voluntary Tax Compliance Intention

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-43
Author(s):  
Ang Leng Soon ◽  
Chek Derashid ◽  
Zainol Bidin
Keyword(s):  
Reasoned Action ◽  
Tax Compliance ◽  
Subjective Norm ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Perceived Usefulness ◽  
Normative Belief ◽  
Perceived Ease Of Use ◽  
Normative Beliefs ◽  
Tax Payers ◽  
Tax Filing

As technology advances, individuals will utilise the gadgets in their daily processes. However, individuals may still require views from their peers and other people surrounding in making decisions. The views formed would affect the individual’s attitude towards their actions. This study was administered to understand the influence of normative belief on taxpayers’ attitude towards voluntary tax compliance intention using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). A total of 311 responses were obtained from the survey conducted remotely online, which was analysed using Smart PLS 3.0 software. The attitude (ATT) construct was decomposed into several dimensions of general tax filing knowledge, compatibility, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and subjective norm. Interestingly, the study found that normative belief, which was measured using the dimension of the subjective norm, has a significant influence on attitude. Similarly, it was found that general tax filing knowledge does significantly influence attitude. However, the dimensions of compatibility, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness were found to be insignificant. In conclusion, the study recognises that technologies play an essential role in individuals’ attitude on tax compliance. Nevertheless, the views of peers and tax knowledge do have an impact on taxpayers regardless of the compatibility and usefulness of the systems when it comes to the voluntary tax compliance intention.

Normative Belief and Motivation

2021 ◽  
pp. 48-74
Author(s):  
Alex Gregory
Keyword(s):  
Normative Belief ◽  
Normative Beliefs ◽  
State Of Mind ◽  
Natural Way

This chapter begins by explaining and endorsing the view that normative beliefs can motivate us to act. Views in this vicinity are normally labelled as versions of ‘judgement internalism’, but I argue that that view has often been understood in ways that render it less plausible. The chapter then combines this claim about the motivational power of normative belief with ODM (Only Desires Motivate) in order to show that desires and reasons beliefs are the same state of mind. This argument is often thought to be an argument for non-cognitivism, which reduces normative beliefs to desires, but the chapter shows that non-cognitivism makes poor sense of normative beliefs about other people, and so the argument instead strongly favours desire-as-belief. The chapter ends by briefly showing how this argument against non-cognitivism and in favour of desire-as-belief connects in a natural way to the Frege-Geach problem for non-cognitivism.

Representing Reasons

2021 ◽  
pp. 170-186
Author(s):  
Alex Gregory
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Normative Belief ◽  
Normative Beliefs ◽  
Borderline Cases ◽  
Conceptual Role Semantics ◽  
Intuitive Appeal ◽  
Conceptual Role ◽  
Inputs And Outputs

This chapter assesses the worry that desire-as-belief raises the bar too high for desiring since it excludes many animals from having desires. In response, the chapter first sketches a general theory of how normative beliefs get their contents: a version of conceptual role semantics according to which the content of a given normative belief is determined by the inputs and outputs to that state. Then, with this theory in hand, the chapter argues that animals count as borderline cases of creatures with desires, since they are borderline cases of creatures with reasons beliefs. This conclusion has some intuitive appeal, and remaining resistance may be undercut by appeal to the distinction between desires and likings, and by appeal to the fact that “wants” is sometimes used merely to mean “needs”.

The cognitive ripple of social norms communications

2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 689-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica M. Nolan
Keyword(s):  
Social Norms ◽  
Spillover Effect ◽  
Social Behaviors ◽  
Normative Belief ◽  
Normative Beliefs ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Self Knowledge ◽  
Original Message ◽  
Social Norms Marketing ◽  
The One

Social norms marketing has become a widely used technique for promoting pro-social behaviors, however, little is known about the cognitive changes produced by these interventions. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the extent and durability of changes in normative beliefs following a one-shot social norms communication. Participants were surveyed immediately following the intervention, one week later, and one month later. Results showed that (1) normative beliefs spilled over to behaviors and referents not specified in the original message; (2) communication and self-knowledge both contributed to participants’ normative belief estimates; and (3) the change in normative beliefs over the one-month period was consistent with Miller and Prentice’s (1996) theory of normative belief construction. Possible explanations for the spillover effect are discussed.

Normative Beliefs about Aggression toward the Out-Group among Israeli and Palestinian Youth

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric F. Dubow ◽  
L. Rowell Huesmann ◽  
Erika Y. Niwa ◽  
Paul Boxer ◽  
Simha F. Landau ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Normative Beliefs

Normative Beliefs about Cyberbullying in U.S. and Israeli Youth

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandy B. Medvin ◽  
Yehuda Peled ◽  
Linda Domanski ◽  
Alissa R. Johnston ◽  
Efrat Pieterse
Keyword(s):  
Normative Beliefs

Perceived Risks and Normative Beliefs as Explanatory Models for College Student Alcohol Involvement: An Assessment of a Campus with Conventional Alcohol Control Policies and Enforcement Practices

NASPA Journal ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd F. Lewis ◽  
Dennis L Thombs
Keyword(s):  
College Student ◽  
Explanatory Models ◽  
Normative Beliefs ◽  
Control Policies ◽  
Perceptions Of Risk ◽  
Student Drinking ◽  
Alcohol Control ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Alcohol Involvement ◽  
University Communities

The aim of this study was to conduct a multivariate assessment of college student drinking motivations at a campus with conventional alcohol control policies and enforcement practices, including the establishment and dissemination of alcohol policies and the use of warnings to arouse fear of sanctions. Two explanatory models were compared: perceptions of risk and normative beliefs. An anonymous questionnaire was administered to 1,396 students at a large Midwestern university. Data analyses were conducted on the subsample of participants who had reported using alcohol within the past 12 months (n = 1,322). Overall, the results from a canonical correlation analysis indicated that alcohol involvement was best explained by normative beliefs about the drinking practices of one’s closest friends. Perceptions of drinking risk were less important to the explanation of alcohol involvement, and some of these measures unexpectedly had positive associations with indicators of alcohol risk behavior. The findings call into question the conventional deterrence strategies used in many university communities (i.e., belief that students who perceive there to be a low risk of receiving sanctions are those most likely to engage in alcohol related misbehavior). Furthermore, the findings suggest that effective interventions will need to impact students' normative beliefs about the drinking practices of proximal peer groups.

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