We usually know our own mental states better than others know them. And we usually come to know them in different ways than how others come to know them. How do we come to possess self-knowledge?
Self-Knowledge: Knowing Your Own Mind
Category: Mind & Language
Contemporary Syllogisms
Contemporary syllogisms are part of modern day quantificational logic, which is widely regarded as an improvement upon the approach originally described by Aristotle about 2,400 years ago. This essay discusses the contemporary approach to syllogisms.
Gricean Conversational Implicature: What We Say and What We Mean
Author: Thomas Hodgson Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word count: 997 Alex and Chris are making cabbage soup and realize that there isn’t any cabbage in the kitchen. Alex states ‘there is a market nearby’. Chris takes Alex to have said that there is a market nearby. Alex also meant that cabbage can be … Continue reading Gricean Conversational Implicature: What We Say and What We Mean
George Orwell’s Philosophical Views
An introduction to the philosophical views of Animal Farm and 1984 author George Orwell.
Frege’s Puzzle and the Meaning of Words
Author: Graham Seth Moore Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word Count: 996 We sometimes use multiple names for the same person or thing without realizing it. Imagine an ancient astronomer sees a heavenly body in the evening and names it ‘Hesperus.’ They also see a heavenly body in the morning and name it ‘Phosphorus.’ … Continue reading Frege’s Puzzle and the Meaning of Words
What is Philosophy?
What is philosophy? The question is itself a philosophical question. This essay surveys some answers. #philosophy #whatisphilosophy #definingphilosophy
The Knowledge Argument Against Physicalism
A review of the knowledge argument against physicalism in the philosophy of mind.
Vagueness
Author: Darren Hibbs Categories: Philosophy of Language, Metaphysics Word Count: 1000 How tall do you have to be to be tall? How much hair do you have to lose to be bald? How old do you have to be to be old? It is an unremarkable feature of language that words such as ‘tall’, ‘bald’, and … Continue reading Vagueness
Wittgenstein’s Private Language Argument
Author: Ian Tully Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word Count: 1000 From roughly §243 to §315 in his Philosophical Investigations, the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein lays out what later commentators have dubbed ‘the private language argument.’1 Wittgenstein imagines a case roughly like the following. Suppose a person is stranded on a deserted island and … Continue reading Wittgenstein’s Private Language Argument
The Extended Mind
Author: Rachel Bourbaki Category: Philosophy of Mind and Language Word Count: 1000 Can your mind be outside of your body? Typically we think that the mind—including our thoughts, beliefs, memories, experiences, attitudes, etc.—is internal to our bodies. A number of philosophers challenge this commonsense view. The view of the mind that these philosophers propose is knows as an extended view, … Continue reading The Extended Mind
1000-Word Philosophy: An Introductory Anthology 