Habits and Dispositions in Frank Ramsey’s Philosophy

This paper examines Ramsey’s use of the concepts of habit and disposition, challenging the common interpretation that he employs them interchangeably in his theory of belief. This interpretative trend reflects a broader tendency to equate habit and disposition, based on the assumption that a habit i...

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Main Author: Alice Morelli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Rijeka. Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences 2025-01-01
Series:European Journal of Analytic Philosophy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/483316
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author Alice Morelli
author_facet Alice Morelli
author_sort Alice Morelli
collection DOAJ
description This paper examines Ramsey’s use of the concepts of habit and disposition, challenging the common interpretation that he employs them interchangeably in his theory of belief. This interpretative trend reflects a broader tendency to equate habit and disposition, based on the assumption that a habit is an acquired disposition to act. However, the precise relationship between these concepts often remains underexplored and it is not clear whether habits are merely a subset of dispositions or if they are conceptually distinct. Using Ramsey’s writings as a case study, this paper argues that their relationship is more nuanced than a reductive equivalence suggests. I advance a twofold thesis: first, I argue that Ramsey’s use of the notions of habit and disposition is more complex than typically assumed, as he employs them in distinct philosophical contexts and conceptualizes them in different ways. Second, I distinguish between a logical-grammatical kind of dispositionalism and a metaphysical one to argue that the notion of habit is dispositional but habits are not metaphysically equivalent to dispositions. Ramsey conceptualizes habits as methods, rules, procedures of thought, whereas dispositions are understood as tendencies or inclinations engendered and shaped by habits.
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spelling doaj-art-af95ec560f804ec6bac1fdc77d0a808b2025-08-20T03:09:07ZengUniversity of Rijeka. Faculty of Humanities and Social SciencesEuropean Journal of Analytic Philosophy1845-84751849-05142025-01-0121220522810.31820/ejap.21.2.6Habits and Dispositions in Frank Ramsey’s PhilosophyAlice Morelli0Ca' Foscari University, Venice, ItalyThis paper examines Ramsey’s use of the concepts of habit and disposition, challenging the common interpretation that he employs them interchangeably in his theory of belief. This interpretative trend reflects a broader tendency to equate habit and disposition, based on the assumption that a habit is an acquired disposition to act. However, the precise relationship between these concepts often remains underexplored and it is not clear whether habits are merely a subset of dispositions or if they are conceptually distinct. Using Ramsey’s writings as a case study, this paper argues that their relationship is more nuanced than a reductive equivalence suggests. I advance a twofold thesis: first, I argue that Ramsey’s use of the notions of habit and disposition is more complex than typically assumed, as he employs them in distinct philosophical contexts and conceptualizes them in different ways. Second, I distinguish between a logical-grammatical kind of dispositionalism and a metaphysical one to argue that the notion of habit is dispositional but habits are not metaphysically equivalent to dispositions. Ramsey conceptualizes habits as methods, rules, procedures of thought, whereas dispositions are understood as tendencies or inclinations engendered and shaped by habits.https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/483316Frank Ramseyhabitdispositionpragmatismnormativity
spellingShingle Alice Morelli
Habits and Dispositions in Frank Ramsey’s Philosophy
European Journal of Analytic Philosophy
Frank Ramsey
habit
disposition
pragmatism
normativity
title Habits and Dispositions in Frank Ramsey’s Philosophy
title_full Habits and Dispositions in Frank Ramsey’s Philosophy
title_fullStr Habits and Dispositions in Frank Ramsey’s Philosophy
title_full_unstemmed Habits and Dispositions in Frank Ramsey’s Philosophy
title_short Habits and Dispositions in Frank Ramsey’s Philosophy
title_sort habits and dispositions in frank ramsey s philosophy
topic Frank Ramsey
habit
disposition
pragmatism
normativity
url https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/483316
work_keys_str_mv AT alicemorelli habitsanddispositionsinfrankramseysphilosophy