Externalism, slow switching and privileged self-knowledge
Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 66 (2):370-388 (2003)
| Abstract | Recent discussions of externalism about mental content have been dominated by the question whether it undermines the intuitively plausible idea that we have knowledge of the contents of our thoughts. In this article I focus on one main line of reasoning (the so-called 'slow switching argument') for the thesis that externalism and self-knowledge are incompatible. After criticizing a number of influential responses to the argument, I set out to explain why it fails. It will be claimed that the argument trades on an ambiguity, and that only by incorporating certain controversial assumptions does it stand a chance of establishing its conclusion. Finally, drawing on an analogy with Benacerraf's challenge to Platonism, I shall offer some reasons as to why the slow switching argument fails to reveal the real source of tension between externalism and privileged self-knowledge | |||||||||
| Keywords | Argument Epistemology Externalism Platonism Self-knowledge | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,865 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesPing Tian (2009). Narrow Memory and Wide Knowledge: An Argument for the Compatibility of Externalism and Self-Knowledge. Frontiers of Philosophy in China 4 (4):604-615.
Pierre Jacob (2001). Is Self-Knowledge Compatible with Externalism? Mind and Society 2 (1):59-75.
Katalin Farkas (2006). Semantic Internalism and Externalism. In Ernest Lepore & Barry C. Smith (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Language. Oxford University Press.
Sven Bernecker (1996). Davidson on First-Person Authority and Externalism. Inquiry 39 (1):121-39.
Kourken Michaelian (2009). Reliabilism and Privileged Access. Journal of Philosophical Research 34:69-109.
Yujin Nagasawa (2002). Externalism and the Memory Argument. Dialectica 56 (4):335-46.
Ted A. Warfield (1992). Privileged Self-Knowledge and Externalism Are Compatible. Analysis 52 (4):232-37.
Peter Ludlow (1995). Externalism, Self-Knowledge, and the Prevalence of Slow-Switching. Analysis 55 (1):45-49.
Andrew F. Smith (2003). Semantic Externalism, Authoritative Self-Knowledge, and Adaptation to Slow Switching. Acta Analytica 18 (30-31):71-87.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads20 ( #62,364 of 556,772 )Recent downloads (6 months)2 ( #38,924 of 556,772 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
