Does Kripke's Pierre Really Believe of London both that It Is Pretty Term Paper

Does Kripke's Pierre Really Believe of London both that It Is Pretty and that It Is not Pretty - Term Paper Example Saul Kripke clearly brings into focus the narration about Pierre in his article, a puzzle about belief. This story could be possibly true on earth as we know it. The story lacks twin worlds or people who are identical. For this reason, it distinguishes itself as a more innocent story compared to other recent past experiments of philosophical thought Sorensen, Roy. Without employing the use of dramatic devices, the story appears to point to realistic possibilities. The possibilities seem to have a lot of philosophical blasts. Supposedly, the story about Pierre has become common knowledge to philosophers by now. Pierre was initially a normal French speaker. Later, he moved to London where he learned and practiced English. He did this without attempting to use the dictionary or any other reference material2. While still in France, he used to hear about London. As a result of what he heard concerning London, he obtained a disposition to subscribe to the sentence â€Å"Londres est jolie†. He still has this disposition. After spending some time in England, learned and became a normal English speaker. Following what he had seen in London, he now asserts to the sentence that London is not pretty. Pierre does not notice that the very city he calls London and wishes when he speaks French is that same city as that which he calls London when he now speaks English. When communicating to his English friends, Pierre asserts that London is not pretty. When conversing with the French in this same city, he sometimes claims that "Londres est jolie", meaning that London is pretty3. According to the principles of our common practice of belief acknowledgment, we appear to be compelled to assert that Pierre believes that London is not pretty. This is based on his assertion that London is not pretty. At the same time, we appear to be compelled to conclude that Pierre believes that in fact, London is pretty. This assertion is based on the strength of Pierre’s assertion that â€Å"Londres est jolie† these contradictory statements bring about a puzzle in the story about the common idea of belief. In other words, it creates a puzzle on the semantic role of proper nouns like London and Londres.