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Full Idea
An intelligible metaphysics will assign a central place to the idea of people (= speakers) with a location in public space and time.
Gist of Idea
Metaphysics requires the idea of people (speakers) located in space and time
Source
Donald Davidson (The Method of Truth in Metaphysics [1977], §III)
Book Ref
'Contemp Perspectives in Phil of Lang', ed/tr. French/Uehling/Wettstein [Minnesota 1979], p.303
A Reaction
The 'location' is the interesting bit, requiring people to be bodies, not abstractions. A big, plausible claim, but hard to prove.
| 1400 | Some cause must unite the separate temporal sections of a person [Descartes] |
| 5512 | Locke uses 'self' for a momentary entity, and 'person' for an extended one [Locke, by Martin/Barresi] |
| 1202 | A person is intelligent, rational, self-aware, continuous, conscious [Locke] |
| 4042 | Metaphysics requires the idea of people (speakers) located in space and time [Davidson] |
| 3238 | 'Dead person' isn't a contradiction, so 'person' is somewhat vague [Williams,B] |
| 3239 | You can only really love a person as a token, not as a type [Williams,B] |
| 20618 | Persons must be conscious, reasoning, motivated, communicative, self-aware [Warren, by Tuckness/Wolf] |
| 4669 | Persons are conscious, they relate, they think, they feel, and they are self-aware [Glover] |
| 6665 | Persons are selves - subjects of experience, with reflexive self-knowledge [Lowe] |