Single Idea 18410

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

Full Idea

Very roughly, we can say that to think of something indexically is to think of it in relation to me, as I am presented to myself in self-consciousness.

Gist of Idea

Indexical thought is in relation to my self-consciousness

Source

Colin McGinn (Subjective View: sec qualities and indexicals [1983], 2)

Book Reference

McGinn,Colin: 'The Subjective View' [OUP 1983], p.17


A Reaction

So it is characterised relationally, which doesn't mean it has a distinctive intrinsic character. If I'm lost, and I overhear someone say 'Peter is in Hazlemere', I get the same relational information (in a different mode) without the indexicality.