Single Idea 7863

[catalogued under 18. Thought / C. Content / 6. Broad Content]

Full Idea

How can 'broad contents', which hinge on matters outside your head, exert a causal influence on your bodily movements? Surely your bodily movements are causally influenced solely by matters inside your skin, not by how matters are outside you.

Gist of Idea

If content hinges on matters outside of you, how can it causally influence your actions?

Source

David Papineau (Thinking about Consciousness [2002], 1.4)

Book Reference

Papineau,David: 'Thinking about Consciousness' [OUP 2004], p.25


A Reaction

This supports my suspicion that there are some extremely simplistic interpretations of the Twin Earth case floating around. If Putnam means by 'elm' whatever experts mean, it is still his idea of what counts as an expert view.