Beyond World Images: Belief as Embodied Action in the World. (March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Strand, Michael; Lizardo, Omar
• Is Part Of: Sociological theory. Volume 33:Number 1(2015:Mar.)
• Page Start: 44
• Page End: 70
• Publication Date: 2015-03
• Subjects: belief -- practice -- Bourdieu -- field theory -- dynamic cognition; Sociology -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 301.01
• DOI: 10.1177/0735275115572397
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0735-2751

Abstract

In this article, we outline the analytic limitations of action theories and interpretive schemes that conceive of beliefs as explicit mental representations linked to a desire-opportunity folk psychology. Drawing on pragmatism and practice theory, we recast the notion of belief as a species of habit, with pre-reflexive anticipation the primary mechanism accounting for both the formation of beliefs and their causal influence on action. We demonstrate the utility of this approach in three ways: first, by linking it with recent research on the cognitive and motor development of infants; second, by drawing out a typology of belief states that accounts for a range of different experiential traits; and third, by applying the new model to reinterpret two belief-based phenomena of broad sociological interest: "irrational" decision making and religious conversion.