Imagining, recognizing and discriminating: Reconsidering the ability hypothesis
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 79 (3):699-717 (2009)
| Abstract | According to the Ability Hypothesis, knowing what it is like to have experience E is just having the ability to imagine or recognize or remember having experience E. I examine various versions of the Ability Hypothesis and point out that they all face serious objections. Then I propose a new version that is not vulnerable to these objections: knowing what it is like to experience E is having the ability todiscriminate imagining or having experience E from imagining or having any other experience. I argue that if we replace the ability to imagine or recognize with the ability to discriminate, the Ability Hypothesis can be salvaged | |||||||||
| Keywords | Knowledge Argument Ability Hypothesis Imagination Discrimination Recognition | |||||||||
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G. Reddiford (1981). Moral Imagining and Children. Journal of Moral Education 10 (2):75-84.
Bence Nanay (2009). Imagining, Recognizing and Discriminating. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 79 (3):699-717.
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