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Single Idea 18429

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

Full Idea

Our view on the world is not primarily a view from a perspective. Our beliefs and desires are not organized around us. They are instead organized around the world itself. Our view is a view from everywhere.

Gist of Idea

Our beliefs and desires are not organised around ourselves, but around the world

Source

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

Book Ref

Cappelen,H/Dever,J: 'The Inessential Indexical' [OUP 2013], p.180


A Reaction

Slipping in the claim that our desires are also organised around the world is not quite as persuasive as the claim about beliefs. If you want to draw a freehand straight line, focus on the far end of it. The world will guide your hand.


The 19 ideas from Cappelen,H/Dever,Josh

It is assumed that indexical content is needed to represent the perspective of perception [Cappelen/Dever]
A 'teepee' argument has several mutually supporting planks to it [Cappelen/Dever]
The basic Kaplan view is that there is truth-conditional content, and contextual character [Cappelen/Dever]
Indexicals are just non-constant in meaning, and don't involve any special concepts [Cappelen/Dever]
Indexicality is not significantly connected to agency [Cappelen/Dever]
It is proposed that a huge range of linguistic items are context-sensitive [Cappelen/Dever]
Fregeans can't agree on what 'senses' are [Cappelen/Dever]
Fregeans say 'I' differs in reference, so it must also differ in sense [Cappelen/Dever]
Possible worlds accounts of content are notoriously coarse-grained [Cappelen/Dever]
Folk Functionalism is a Ramsification of our folk psychology [Cappelen/Dever]
We deny that action involves some special class of beliefs [Cappelen/Dever]
Proprioception is only immune from error if you are certain that it represents the agent [Cappelen/Dever]
Prioprioception focuses on your body parts, not on your self, or indexicality [Cappelen/Dever]
All indexicals can be expressed non-indexically [Cappelen/Dever]
We can acquire self-knowledge with mirrors, not just with proprioception and introspection [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]