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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 'The Inessential Indexical'

18404 It is assumed that indexical content is needed to represent the perspective of perception [Cappelen/Dever]
18405 A 'teepee' argument has several mutually supporting planks to it [Cappelen/Dever]
18406 The basic Kaplan view is that there is truth-conditional content, and contextual character [Cappelen/Dever]
18408 Indexicals are just non-constant in meaning, and don't involve any special concepts [Cappelen/Dever]
18407 Indexicality is not significantly connected to agency [Cappelen/Dever]
18411 It is proposed that a huge range of linguistic items are context-sensitive [Cappelen/Dever]
18413 Fregeans can't agree on what 'senses' are [Cappelen/Dever]
18414 Fregeans say 'I' differs in reference, so it must also differ in sense [Cappelen/Dever]
18417 Possible worlds accounts of content are notoriously coarse-grained [Cappelen/Dever]
18419 Folk Functionalism is a Ramsification of our folk psychology [Cappelen/Dever]
18420 We deny that action involves some special class of beliefs [Cappelen/Dever]
18421 Proprioception is only immune from error if you are certain that it represents the agent [Cappelen/Dever]
18422 Prioprioception focuses on your body parts, not on your self, or indexicality [Cappelen/Dever]
18423 All indexicals can be expressed non-indexically [Cappelen/Dever]
18425 We can acquire self-knowledge with mirrors, not just with proprioception and introspection [Cappelen/Dever]
18426 All information is objective, and purely indexical information is not much use [Cappelen/Dever]
18427 If some of our thought is tied to its context, it will be hard to communicate it [Cappelen/Dever]
18428 You don't remember your house interior just from an experienced viewpoint [Cappelen/Dever]
18429 Our beliefs and desires are not organised around ourselves, but around the world [Cappelen/Dever]