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Single Idea 18403

[filed under theme 18. Thought / A. Modes of Thought / 9. Indexical Thought ]

Full Idea

Even if the indexical is not an objective fact about the world, it is a fact about the world as I find it, and it is the world as I find it that needs explanation.

Gist of Idea

Indexicals may not be objective, but they are a fact about the world as I see it

Source

David J.Chalmers (The Conscious Mind [1996], 1.2.5)

Book Ref

Chalmers,David J.: 'The Conscious Mind' [OUP 1997], p.85


A Reaction

Chalmers treats them as important, whereas the way he expresses it could make them eliminable, if the world seen by him is eliminable.


The 19 ideas with the same theme [thought which depends on a particular perspective]:

Thoughts about myself are understood one way to me, and another when communicated [Frege]
Indexical thoughts are about themselves, and ascribe properties to themselves [Perry, by Recanati]
Lewis's popular centred worlds approach gives an attitude an index of world, subject and time [Lewis, by Recanati]
Indexical thought is in relation to my self-consciousness [McGinn]
Indexicals do not figure in theories of physics, because they are not explanatory causes [McGinn]
The indexical perspective is subjective, incorrigible and constant [McGinn]
Indexical concepts are indispensable, as we need them for the power to act [McGinn]
Indexicals may not be objective, but they are a fact about the world as I see it [Chalmers]
Indexicals apply to singular thought, and mental files have essentially indexical features [Recanati]
Indexicality is closely related to singularity, exploiting our direct relations with things [Recanati]
Indexicality is not just a feature of language; examples show it also occurs in thought [Recanati]
How can we communicate indexical thoughts to people not in the right context? [Recanati]
If two people can have phenomenally identical experiences, they can't involve the self [Brogaard]
It is assumed that indexical content is needed to represent the perspective of perception [Cappelen/Dever]
Indexicality is not significantly connected to agency [Cappelen/Dever]
All information is objective, and purely indexical information is not much use [Cappelen/Dever]
If some of our thought is tied to its context, it will be hard to communicate it [Cappelen/Dever]
You don't remember your house interior just from an experienced viewpoint [Cappelen/Dever]
Our beliefs and desires are not organised around ourselves, but around the world [Cappelen/Dever]