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Full Idea
Our knowledge of our thoughts includes both our knowledge that we think and our knowledge of the contents of our thought.
Gist of Idea
Knowledge of thoughts covers both their existence and their contents
Source
Quassim Cassam (Introduction to 'Self-Knowledge' [1994], §I)
Book Ref
'Self-Knowledge', ed/tr. Cassam,Quassim [OUP 1994], p.1
A Reaction
This seems like a simple, self-evident and true distinction. We might question the first part, though. Knowledge involves the contents, but the fact that we think may be an inference from the contents, or even a fictional abstraction. Contents alone?
5673 | If we have a pain, we are strongly aware of the bodily self [Cassam] |
5670 | Knowledge of thoughts covers both their existence and their contents [Cassam] |
5671 | Outer senses are as important as introspection in the acquisition of self-knowledge [Cassam] |
5672 | Is there a mode of self-awareness that isn't perception, and could it give self-knowledge? [Cassam] |
5674 | We can't introspect ourselves as objects, because that would involve possible error [Cassam] |
5675 | Neither self-consciousness nor self-reference require self-knowledge [Cassam] |