From Surface to Depth: Resolving Two Problems in the Grammar of Belief
Abstract
In Between Knowledge and Certainty, I argued that Wittgenstein’s distinction between knowledge and certainty is not just epistemological but grammatical (Ellis 2025). This paper revisits that claim in light of two potential challenges: first, that a statement can express certainty only if it expresses a true knowledge claim; second, that belief-in God’s existence depends on belief-that God exists. I argue these are not genuine epistemological problems, but grammatical misunderstandings resulting from a failure to distinguish surface from depth grammar.