集体信念的哲学分析

A Philosophical Analysis of Group Beliefs

在传统的认识论中,信念的主体通常是单个的个人。但在日常语言与社会科学中,经常有大量的集体信念命题。目前在哲学界对于集体信念主要有三种研究模型:以奎恩顿为代表的多数人模型,以吉尔伯特为代表的共同承诺模型,以及以塞尔为代表的合作模型。这三种模型各擅胜场,但也都面临挑战与质疑。笔者建议,把"集体"再进一步细分为集合、机构与社群。集合是个人的松散组合;机构是建制化、结构化的整体;社群介乎二者中间。对集合的信念,基本可以适用于多数人模型;对于机构的信念,我们可以通过社会学调研的方法来了解其决策过程;对于社群的信念,可以用社会网络理论。

In traditional epistemology,we ascribe beliefs to individuals.However,in ordinary language and social sciences,there are a lot of group belief propositions.In philosophical literature,there are mainly three models about group belief:Anthony Quinton’s majority model,Margaret Gilbert’s jointly committed model,John Searle’s cooperation model.Every model has its own advantage,but meets criticism and challenges.The authors suggest analyzing the concept of group into three categories:aggregate,institution,and community.Aggregate is a loose combination of individuals;Institute is a structured and hierarchical unit;community is in the between.For aggregate beliefs,we can use majority model.For institution beliefs,we shall use sociological survey to find their decision procedure.For community beliefs,we may appeal to social network theory.