Single Idea 22417

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

Full Idea

Indexicals are like secondary qualities in not figuring in causal explanations of the interactions of objects: physics omits them not because they are relative and egocentric, but because they do not constitute explanatory predicates of a causal theory.

Gist of Idea

Indexicals do not figure in theories of physics, because they are not explanatory causes

Source

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

Book Reference

McGinn,Colin: 'The Subjective View' [OUP 1983], p.22


A Reaction

They are outside explanatory physics, but not outside explanation. The object moved because a force acted on it; or the object moved because I wanted it moved.