Moore's Paradox

Ken, what do you think of my contention that it can't be true that I believe it is raining because it is not universally true? (See earlier)

The 'sleight of hand' of Moore's paradox is that 'I don't believe that p' looks very much like a factual statement, and when it is phrased by a third person; such as 'He doesn't believe that p', it is. This is because multiple people can share the view. A simple test of (potential) universal truth is if the belief can be shared by others. 'I' statements are singular and don't qualify as fact as they can never be universally true, they are simply beliefs and assertions. 'I am here', 'I believe in God' and 'I am going down to JB Hi-Fi' are, not in actuality, facts, but assertions. You very may well be going down to JB Hi-Fi, which would make it fact, but simply believing it does not make it so. 'I am going down to JB Hi-Fi' by definition can't be believed by more than one because if your mate Freddo thought 'I am going down to JB Hi-Fi' then he would be talking about himself and not you. He could say however 'You are going down to JB Hi-Fi and you don't believe it'. This is not a Moorean paradox because it is possible I am misled, ignorant or just plain delusional about going down to JB Hi-Fi.

Another way to put it is that 'I' statements are not universally true and are therefore can never be fact.