What’s So Special about Self-Knowledge?

Jose Medina

doi:10.1007/s11098-004-3616-8

What’s So Special about Self-Knowledge?

Philosophical Studies 129 (3):575-603 (2006)

Authors	José Medina Vanderbilt University
Abstract	This is a critical discussion of selected chapters of the first volume of Scott Soames's _Philosophical Analysis in the Twentieth Century. It is argued that this volume falls short of the minimal standards of scholarship appropriate to a work that advertises itself as a history, and, further, that Soames's frequent heuristic simplifications and distortions, since they are only sporadically identified as such, are more likely to confuse than to enlighten the student. These points are illustrated by reference to Soames's discussions of Russell's logical system and the place of the theory of descriptions in his ontological development. It is then argued that Soames's interpretation of the point of G. E. Moore's famous 'proof' of an external world, while not straightforwardly undermined by the textual evidence, is nonetheless questionable, and plausibly overlooks what is novel in Moore's discussion. This, it is argued, in his attempt to offer a common sense 'refutation of idealism', rather than (as is more commonly supposed) an antiskeptical argument 'from differential certainty'
Keywords	Ascription Fallibility Metaphysics Normative Self-knowledge Wittgenstein, Ludwig
Categories	Self-Knowledge, Misc in Philosophy of Mind (categorize this paper)
DOI	10.1007/s11098-004-3616-8
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References found in this work BETA

The Concept of Mind.Gilbert Ryle - 1949 - Hutchinson & Co.

Making It Explicit: Reasoning, Representing, and Discursive Commitment.Robert B. Brandom - 1994 - Harvard University Press.

On Certainty (Ed. Anscombe and von Wright).Ludwig Wittgenstein - 1969 - Harper Torchbooks.

Individualism and the Mental.Tyler Burge - 1979 - Midwest Studies in Philosophy 4 (1):73-122.

The Blue and Brown Books.Ludwig Wittgenstein - 1958 - Harper & Row.

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Citations of this work BETA

The Value of Privileged Access.Jared Peterson - forthcoming - European Journal of Philosophy.

Self-Knowledge, Choice Blindness, and Confabulation.Hayley F. Webster - 2019 - Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst

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What’s So Special about Self-Knowledge?

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