CAN WE BELIEVE WHAT WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND

In a series of papers, Sperber provides the following analysis of the phenomenon of ill-understood belief (or 'quasi-belief', as I call it): (i) the quasi-believer has a validating meta-belief, to the effect th at a certain representation is true; yet (ii) that representation does not give rise to a plain belief, because it is 'semi-propositional'. In this paper I discuss several aspects of this treatment. Ln particul ar, I deny that the representation accepted by the quasi-believer is s emantically indeterminate, and I reject Sperber's claim that quasi-bel ief is a credal attitude distinct from plain belief.