Many of the things we believe, in the relevant sense, are quite mundane: that we have heads, that it's the 21st century, that a coffee mug is on the desk. Forming beliefs is thus one of the most basic and important features of the mind, and the concept of belief plays a crucial role in our belief sytstems
If one is about to use a ladder to climb to a height, one may check the stability of the ladder in various ways. At some point, one accepts that the ladder is stable and climbs it. In both of these examples, acceptance involves a decision to cease inquiry and to act as though the matter is settled. This does not, of course, rule out the possibility of re-opening the question if new evidence comes to light (ie the ladder is not stable and you fall off) or a new set of risks arise.
The view that belief requires language is a natural consequence of the view that belief attribution is inextricably intertwined with the interpretation of a subject's linguistic utterances.
Davidson also argues that to have a belief one must have the concept of belief, which involves the ability to recognize that beliefs can be false or that there is a mind-independent reality beyond one's beliefs; and one cannot have all that without language.
Furthermore, many developmental psychologists have suggested that children do not understand the appearance-reality distinction and do not recognize that beliefs can be false until they are at least three years old, well after they have begun to talk ergo beliefs reqire language.
Source: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/belief/#4
If one is about to use a ladder to climb to a height, one may check the stability of the ladder in various ways. At some point, one accepts that the ladder is stable and climbs it. In both of these examples, acceptance involves a decision to cease inquiry and to act as though the matter is settled. This does not, of course, rule out the possibility of re-opening the question if new evidence comes to light (ie the ladder is not stable and you fall off) or a new set of risks arise.
The view that belief requires language is a natural consequence of the view that belief attribution is inextricably intertwined with the interpretation of a subject's linguistic utterances.
Davidson also argues that to have a belief one must have the concept of belief, which involves the ability to recognize that beliefs can be false or that there is a mind-independent reality beyond one's beliefs; and one cannot have all that without language.
Furthermore, many developmental psychologists have suggested that children do not understand the appearance-reality distinction and do not recognize that beliefs can be false until they are at least three years old, well after they have begun to talk ergo beliefs reqire language.
Source: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/belief/#4
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