The Problem of Other Minds - II

U may have wondered why did I call my last post "The Problem of Other Minds - I". Since u are already reading "The Problems of Other Minds - II", I think the number mystery is solved. The text of the title comes from a well known philosophical problem called The Problem of Other Minds . It is a very interesting problem, one that questions our very basic assumptions and requires very elaborate arguements to actually defend them. The central question is how do "I" (I of Rene Descartes fame) know about the existence of any other minds in this world apart from my own? Since we have access to only our own experiences and thoughts and ideas, something called "privileged access", is there anyway to establish beyond doubt that other minds are also out there?

A negative stand on this issue provides the logical basis for Solipsism . To quote,
The solipsist can attach no meaning to the supposition that there could be thoughts, experiences, and emotions other than his own. In short, the true solipsist understands the word 'pain', for example, to mean 'my pain' - he cannot accordingly conceive how this word is to be applied in any sense other than this exclusively egocentric one.

I hope the name of the post makes more sense now.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Q) If Descarte had a blog, what would he call it?

A) "I write, therefore I am"

-vk
July 15, 2004 at 2:08 PM
abhaga said…
lol :) or maybe "I blog, therefor I am"
July 15, 2004 at 6:32 PM
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