Eric Mandelbaum

The thesis that one can contemplate an idea before believing it is so ubiquitous that it is rarely even stated as an assumption. This dissertation argues that this thesis is false and instead posits that forming a belief is an effortless and automatic endeavor that occurs anytime an idea is encountered, while rejecting a belief is an active and effortful endeavor that can only occur after an initial acceptance of that belief. The central hypothesis of the dissertation is that whenever a thought is accessed in one’s mind, that thought is believed. This hypothesis is used to explain both the workings of pretense and the efficacy of propaganda. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of how this view on pretense and propaganda relates to current epistemological debates pertaining to rationality.

Dissertation: "The Architecture of Belief: An Essay on the Unbearable Automaticity of Believing"