Single Idea 6140

[catalogued under 16. Persons / D. Continuity of the Self / 3. Reference of 'I']

Full Idea

One might say that the word 'I' can only have a person as its reference.

Gist of Idea

Maybe the word 'I' can only refer to persons

Source

Trenton Merricks (Objects and Persons [2003], §2.IV)

Book Reference

Merricks,Trenton: 'Objects and Persons' [OUP 2003], p.50


A Reaction

To infer the existence of persons from this would be to commit what I think of as the Linguistic Fallacy, of deducing ontology directly from language. We might allow (Dennett fashion) that folk categories require the fiction of persons.