THREE PROBLEMS OF OTHER MINDS

Think ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (51) ◽  
pp. 63-75
Author(s):  
Chad Engelland

The traditional problem of other minds is epistemological. What justification can be given for thinking that the world is populated with other minds? More recently, some philosophers have argued for a second problem of other minds that is conceptual. How can we conceive of the point of view of another mind in relation to our own? This article retraces the logic of the epistemological and conceptual problems, and it argues for a third problem of other minds. This is the phenomenological problem which concerns the philosophical (rather than psychological) question of experience. How is another mind experienced as another mind? The article offers dialectical and motivational justification for regarding these as three distinct problems. First, it argues that while the phenomenological problem cannot be reduced to the other problems, it is logically presupposed by them. Second, the article examines how the three problems are motivated by everyday experiences in three distinct ways.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Stricker

The paper undertakes a comparison of the philosophies of Stanley Cavell and Emmanuel L_vinas, focusing on their interpretation of skepticism and the crucial role of the problem of the other or other minds in the works of both. The comparison proceeds in three major steps: first, differences in their respective interpretations of Descartes’ stance on the problem of other minds are discussed. In the second section, Cavell’s examination of the intelligibility of someone else’s pain and L_vinas’ questioning of the sense of suffering are juxtaposed. Finally, the author analyzes their respective treatment of skepticism. This results in the opening of an ethical dimension which grounds the dominating theoretical relationship towards the world and the other human being in epistemology and ontology. The periodical return and irrefutability of skepticism can thus be regarded not only as evidence of the inevitable limitation of knowledge, but as a consequence of the necessarily social or intersubjective structure of subjectivity itself.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-116
Author(s):  
Kailashkanta Naik ◽  

When philosophy of mind goes into every detail in explaining about consciousness and its every aspect, the problem of other minds being its part is not spared. In such context going against the traditional way of giving justification Wittgenstein novel approach to other minds is remarkable and is close to the phenomenological understanding. The analysis of the sensation of pain as one of its important factors in solving the other minds problem is unique and it is this that proves how Wittgenstein dissolves the problem rather than giving a solution. This article focuses Wittgenstein’s two important factors: Private Language Argument and the concept of the sensation of pain in dissolving the issue. And in this I have made an attempt to show how his novelty in approaching this problem gains importance even today.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-86
Author(s):  
Zainal Lutfi

This article discusses the problem of Islamic education from a theological and sociological point of view. The emergence of normative and verbalist Islamic education curriculum distorts the universality of Islam. Islam that is contextual in space and time, always in contact with sociological aspects, should be understood as something that can change its partiality dynamics continuously, even though there is a universal thing that is maintained as a normative belief. On the other hand, the failure of education to produce educational output that is dignified and virtuous has caused some people to distrust the world of education in developing the character and ethics of children. The vote of disbelief is getting stronger with the emergence of the National curriculum model which gives a greater portion of general subjects than religious subjects. This paper is a criticism of the development of the world of education in Indonesia, with the hope that education stakeholders make changes to the education system and the applicable curriculum.


Author(s):  
Giovanni Stanghellini

This chapter discusses how perspectivism is the device through which each one of us, who first and foremost sees the world from his point of view, is able to recognize that precisely as just one point of view, and thereby to change it. A healthy mental condition implies the ability to change one’s point of view and temporarily take the perspective of another person. The stronger the reciprocity of perspectives between my former and my present ego, and between my own vantage and the Other’s, the weaker the tendency to perceive my motivations as absolutely necessary. Perspectivism allows me to see myself as not strictly determined by the past and by the involuntary, and may restore a sense of agency. This explains why the reciprocity of perspectives is a therapeutic goal and perspectivism—the attempt to see things from the point of view of the Other—is a therapeutic device.


Phronesis ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 263-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Makin

AbstractIn this paper I offer a new interpretation of Melissus' argument at DK 30 B8.In this passage Melissus uses an Eleatic argument against change to challenge an opponent who appeals to the authority of perception in order to support the view that there are a plurality of items in the world. I identify an orthodox type of approach to this passage, but argue that it cannot give a charitable interpretation of Melissus' strategy. In order to assess Melissus' overall argument we have to identify the opponent at whom it is aimed. The orthodox interpretation of the argument faces a dilemma: Melissus' argument is either a poor argument against a plausible opponent or a good argument against an implausible opponent.My interpretation turns on identifying a new target for Melissus' argument. I explain the position I call Bluff Realism (contrasting it with two other views: the Pig Headed and the Fully Engaged). These are positions concerning the dialectical relation between perception on the one hand, and arguments to counter-perceptual conclusions on the other. I argue that Bluff Realism represents a serious threat from an Eleatic point of view, and is prima facie an attractive position in its own right.I then give a charitable interpretation of Melissus' argument in DK 30 B8, showing how he produces a strong and incisive argument against the Bluff Realist position I have identified. Melissus emerges as an innovative and astute philosopher.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 676-701
Author(s):  
Andrey S. Desnitsky

The article presents a brief introduction into the modern research area concerning “the quest for historical Jesus” from the scholarly point of view. In the focus is the original Russian literature in its global context. Since Jesus from Nazareth is the key figure for the most widespread religion in the world, i.e. Christianity, the works devoted to him usually step out of the mere scholarly paradigm even if they used scholarly methods, seeking to approve or to disapprove the religious tradition. Recently, however, a lot has been done to describe Jesus as belonging to his own Jewish tradition and, on the other hand, to investigate the development of Jesus narratives in the emerging Christian tradition. Such kind of studies meet the scholar requirements and look promising.


Author(s):  
Seungeun Choi ◽  

The number of foreigners residing in Korea exceeded 2.5 million for the first time ever. As the ratio of foreigners to the total population approaches 5%, it is evaluated that Korea has actually entered a multicultural society. It is known that among the types of foreigners staying there are many young foreigners who visit Korea for the purpose of employment. The number of marriage immigrants was 16,025, an increase of 4.3% from the previous year. Of these, 82.6% were women. Entering a multicultural society in a situation where empathy for each other is insufficient can lead to social conflict. In particular, in the COVID-19 pandemic, hostility toward foreigners is more prevalent, and hatred for strangers is increasing. This study critically analyzes these social phenomena and seeks to raise the philosophical basis for multicultural education by establishing a concept with a new perspective on the other. This paper focuses on the philosophy of Buber and Levinas. By establishing 'I and You' as a meeting, Buber presented a new relationship with others. Meanwhile, Levinas emphasized human ethics and responsibility as the absolute and infinite being of the other. According to Buber, in the world there is a relationship between 'I-You' and 'I-It', and in order to live a true life, you must establish a relationship between 'I and you'. The relationship between 'I and it' is a temporary and mechanical relationship where objects can be replaced at any time by looking at the world from an instrumental point of view. However, the relationship between 'I and You' is a relationship that faces each other personally, and the only 'I' that cannot be changed with anything and the 'You' that cannot be replaced exist in deep trust. In phenomenology of otherness, Levinas intends to describe the encounter with the something outside the subject. The concepts of possession, distinctiveness and understanding are replaced by those of approaches, proximity, care and fecundity. In Korean society, a policy that seeks to use foreigners as human resources and, especially in the case of marriage immigrant women, as a solution to a society with low birthrates along with the labor force, shows how society treats others. Therefore, multicultural education must rethink the existence and dignity of human beings through the perspective of the other as asserted in the philosophy of Buber and Levinas.


Human Arenas ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelia Manuti ◽  
Giuseppe Mininni ◽  
Rosa Scardigno ◽  
Ignazio Grattagliano

Abstract In line with the general aims of scientific textuality, research papers in the biomedical and psychiatric academic domains mostly attempt to demonstrate the validity of their assumptions and to contrast with the sense of uncertainty that sometimes frames their conclusions. Moving from this premise, the present paper aimed to focus on these features and to investigate if and the extent to which biomedical and psychiatric texts convey different social-epistemic rhetoric of uncertainty. In view of this, a qualitative study was conducted adopting diatextual analysis to investigate a corpus of 298 scientific articles taken from the British Medical Journal and from the British Journal of Psychiatry published in 2013. Our analytical approach led to identifying two different types of social-epistemic rhetoric. The first one was mostly oriented to “describing” the world, accounting for the body-mind nexus as conceptualized within the “medical” point of view. On the other hand, the second one was oriented to “interpreting” the world, debating the problematic and critical features of the body-mind relationship as developed within the psychiatry discursive realm.


Daímon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoni Gomila Benejam ◽  
Diana Pérez

In this paper, we will address the question of the impact of the second person perspective of psychological attribution on the traditional problem of knowing other minds. With that purpose in mind, we will introduce the notion of a second-personal perspective of mental attribution within the context of the classical problem of other minds, and discuss the epistemic and ontological implications that follow once the second person perspective is honored. In particular, we will examine how its recognition transforms the traditional problem of other minds, both in its epistemological, ontological and semantical dimensions, and offers a way to go beyond the objective/subjective dichotomy of Modern Philosophy. A proper notion of intersubjectivity, we will argue, is not a simple addition to this dichotomy, but it offers the way to get over the traditional philosophical problems that follow from this modern philosophical paradigm.


1901 ◽  
Vol 67 (435-441) ◽  
pp. 105-112 ◽  

Notwithstanding the extraordinary importance from a technical point of view of the members of this series, which constitute the gold coinages of the world, singularly little is known respecting either their molecular constitution or even their physical constants. Both the authors of this paper possess unusual facilities for studying them, and they felt that time should not be lost in beginning a systematic examination of the series. The other alloys used for coinage have, on the other hand, not been so neglected.


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