States as Metaphysically Possible Worlds

Abstract This chapter assesses whether the credence framework could accommodate the tenet (that credence claims are opaque) while retaining the assumption that states are metaphysically possible worlds. The chapter explores various options, beginning with those inspired by Bertrand Russell’s descriptivism and Robert Stalnaker’s account of belief attribution, and then turning to David Chalmers’s two-dimensionalist approach. Chalmers’s definitions of the primary and secondary intensions of assertions are explained and motivated, and then there is an extended exploration of the idea that the objects of credence might be primary intensions. Problems with this view are raised, and various potential solutions and refinements are considered. The chapter ends with a discussion of some related views, including the view that the objects of credence might be enriched propositions. It is argued that all of the views discussed face serious difficulties.