An alternative view is that the assertion "I believe that "p"" often (though not always) functions as an alternative way of asserting ""p"", so that the semantic content of the assertion "I believe that "p"" is just "p": it functions as a statement about the world and not about anyone's state of mind. Accordingly, what someone asserts when they assert ""p" and I believe that not-"p"" is just ""p" and not-"p"" Asserting the commissive version of Moore's sentences is again assimilated to the more familiar (putative) impropriety of asserting a contradiction.