more from Donald Davidson

Single Idea 8872

[catalogued under 18. Thought / C. Content / 6. Broad Content]

Full Idea

It has been widely supposed that externalism, which holds that the contents of a person's propositional attitudes are partly determined by factors of which the person may be ignorant, cannot be reconciled with first-person authority.

Gist of Idea

It is widely supposed that externalism cannot be reconciled with first-person authority

Source

Donald Davidson (Epistemology Externalized [1990], p.197)

Book Reference

Davidson,Donald: 'Subjective, Intersubjective, Objective' [OUP 2001], p.197


A Reaction

It is certainly a bit puzzling if you go around saying 'Actually, people don't know their own thoughts'. Davidson aims to defend first-person authority. The full story is developed in Tyler Burge's views on 'anti-individualism'.