Abstract
AbstractWe examine moments in social interaction in which a person formulates what another thinks or believes. Such formulations of belief constitute a practice with specifiable contexts and consequences. Belief formulations treat aspects of the other person's prior conduct as accountable on the basis that it provided a new angle on a topic, or otherwise made a surprising contribution within an ongoing course of actions. The practice of belief formulations subjectivizes the content that the other articulated and thereby topicalizes it, mobilizing commitment to that position, an account, or further elaboration. We describe how the practice can be put to work in different activity contexts: sometimes it is designed to undermine the other's position as a subjective ‘mere belief’, at other times it serves to mobilize further topic talk. Throughout, belief formulations show themselves to be a method by which we get to know ourselves and each other as mental agents. (Accountability, beliefs, courses of action, formulations, inference, subjectivity, topicalization)*
Highlights
This article is concerned with moments in social interaction in which a person formulates what another ‘thinks’ or ‘believes’
What is it about some social situations that they mobilize a formulation of the other person’s mind? What are the grounds on which speakers infer what the other might be ‘thinking’? In a nutshell, we find that the pervasive accountability of our conduct in social interaction enables and mobilizes others to formulate our thoughts and beliefs
We have described moments in social interaction in which a person formulates what another seems to think or believe, and have identified several generic properties that characterize such events as a practice
Summary
This article is concerned with moments in social interaction in which a person formulates what another ‘thinks’ or ‘believes’. The interviewer asks about the girl’s professional aspirations. When she answers that she wants to become a policewoman, the interviewer formulates a belief the interviewee seems to hold: that her hobby of show jumping won’t do as a way of making a living (line 16–17). We are interested here in moments like this, moments in which one speaker formulates what the other person seems to think or believe. What is it about some social situations that they mobilize a formulation of the other person’s mind? We find that the pervasive accountability of our conduct in social interaction enables and mobilizes others to formulate our thoughts and beliefs. Before taking a closer look at accountability, we briefly consider the philosophy and psychology of understanding ‘other minds’
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