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Single Idea 18428

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

Full Idea

When you recall the look of the inside of your house ....where things are relative to one another is what persists in memory, not where they were relative to you when seen.

Gist of Idea

You don't remember your house interior just from an experienced viewpoint

Source

Cappelen,H/Dever,Josh (The Inessential Indexical [2013], 10)

Book Ref

Cappelen,H/Dever,J: 'The Inessential Indexical' [OUP 2013], p.178


A Reaction

This seems to be a very telling example, though you could postulate some system which converts perspectival input into objective information. But why bother? We seek objective information, not perspectives.


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]