ABSTRACT
Delusions are pathological mental states, at least in typical cases. More precisely, they are pathological beliefs, assuming that DD is true. (And, for the sake of simplicity, I will assume that DD is true in this chapter.) Being pathological is not the same as being false or being irrational. Suppose that Anna falsely believes that her husband is having an affair. This belief might not be pathological; perhaps it is just a simple mistake. Suppose, again, that Sam irrationally believes, without good evidence, that he is smarter than his colleagues. This belief might not be pathological, either; perhaps it is just a non-pathological self-deception. But when a person with chronic schizophrenia believes that people look at her and gossip about her whenever she goes out in public (Case 1 in Chapter 1), or a person with brain damage believes that his father has been replaced by an imposter (Case 2 in Chapter 1), these beliefs are not merely false or irrational. They are pathological.
