Certainty and delusion

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this paper, I will explore the irrationality of delusions through Wittgenstein’s notion of objective certainty. I will propose that objective certainties are constitutive epistemic norms, and that the specific irrationality of delusions can be captured in terms of the conflict with such constitutive norms. At the same time, however, I will critically examine various recent proposals to understand delusions as the loss of objective certainties, or even in terms of alternative objective certainties. Against these accounts, I will argue that lost or alternative objective certainties cannot be used to understand delusional conflicts with constitutive norms, and that such lost or alternative certainties would even preclude attributing delusions to someone. Alternatively, I will argue that the proposed type of irrationality at stake in delusions implies that delusional speech has the form of avowals.