The Mirror of the World: Subjects, Consciousness, and Self-Consciousness

298 Pages·2014·1.65 MB·English

by  Christopher Peacocke

The Mirror
of the World
Subjects, Consciousness, and
Self-Consciousness
Christopher Peacocke
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP,
UnitedKingdom
OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship,
andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof
OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries
©ChristopherPeacocke2014
Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted
FirstEditionpublishedin2014
Impression:1
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin
aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe
priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted
bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics
rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe
aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe
addressabove
Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform
andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress
198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016,UnitedStatesofAmerica
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Dataavailable
ISBN978–0–19–969956–8
Asprintedandboundby
CPIGroup(UK)Ltd,Croydon,CR04YY
LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand
forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials
containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork.

The Mirror of the World
Context and Content
Series editor: François Recanati, Institut Nicod
Othertitlesintheseries:
TheInessentialIndexical
OnthePhilosophicalInsignificanceofPerspectiveandtheFirstPerson
HermanCappelenandJoshDever
AssessmentSensitivity
RelativeTruthanditsApplications
JohnMacFarlane

Contents
AcknowledgementsandSources ix
I Introduction 1
II PrimitiveSelf-Representation 6
1. TheBasicNotion 6
2. Self-Files 14
3. ThreeDegreesofSelf-Representation 30
III TheMetaphysicsofConsciousSubjects 40
1. ConsciousnessandConsciousSubjects:An
Interdependence 40
2. AResponsetoHume 44
3. TheConsequencesofInterdependence 57
4. ContemporaryDifferences:AHistoricalAffinity 68
IV TheFirstPersonConceptanditsNonconceptualParent 80
1. SomeBackgroundonConcepts 81
2. ExplainingFourPhenomena 86
3. IssuesofAcquaintance 99
V ExplainingFirstPersonPhenomena 106
1. ExplainingImmunitytoErrorthroughMisidentification 106
2. CanWeDispensewithFirstPersonNotions
andConcepts? 113
VI DescartesDefended 127
1. TheSoundnessoftheCogito 128
2. WhatCanthePerspectiveofConsciousnessSupply? 139
3. Entitlement,theSecondCogito,andAnscombe 146
VII ParalogismsandFirstPersonIllusions 154
1. TheIssues 154
2. SomeRepliestoKant’sObjections 159
3. Strawson’sNeo-KantianConceptionofSubjects 178
viii CONTENTS
VIII PerspectivalSelf-Consciousness 188
1. WhatistheSignificanceoftheMirrorTest? 190
2. AWiderCriterionforPerspectivalSelf-Consciousness 194
3. TheReorientationAccountandOtherMinds 203
IX ReflectiveSelf-Consciousness 213
1. CharacterizingReflectiveSelf-Consciousness 213
2. MetaphysicsandEpistemologyofReflective
Self-Consciousness 217
3. FirstPersonTheoriesofUnderstanding,andEmpirical
Phenomena 223
4. ReflectiveandPerspectivalSelf-Consciousness:
TheirSignificanceforInquiry 232
5. ReflectiveSelf-ConsciousnessandtheConceptionof
ManyMinds 234
X InterpersonalSelf-Consciousness 236
1. IllustrationandDelineation 237
2. SomeRolesofInterpersonalSelf-Consciousness 243
3. IsThereanIrreducibleSecondPersonConcept? 247
4. PhilosophicalandPsychologicalIssues 250
5. Self-Consciousness:TheRelationsoftheInterpersonalto
OtherVarieties 260
6. ConcludingRemarks 263
AppendixA 264
AppendixB 266
XI OpenConclusion:ThePlaceofMetaphysics 267
References 269
Index 277
Preface
ThisbookcontainsarevisedversionofthetextfromwhichIdrewtwo
setsoflectures,bothgivenunderthetitle‘Subjects,Consciousness,and
Self-Consciousness’.Thefirstsetwasgivenintheautumnof2010inthe
‘ContextandContent’seriesdirectedbyFrançoisRecanatiattheInstitut
JeanNicod,intheÉcoleNormaleSupérieureinParis.Thesecondsetwas
given a few months later in the Winter Quarter of 2011 as the Kohut
LecturesattheCommitteeonSocialThoughtattheUniversityofChicago.
IwarmlythankFrançoisRecanati,JonathanLear,RobertPippin,andthe
CommitteeonSocialThoughtfortheseinvitations,andthanktooallthose
involvedinthestimulatingexchangesthatfollowedeachoftheselectures
inParisandChicago.Thepresenttextresultsfromrevisionsmadeinthe
lightofthosediscussions,andofdiscussionsatmyseminarsatColumbia
UniversityandUniversityCollegeLondon.
IntherevisedtextIhavetriedtopreservethedirectandconcisestyle
appropriate for a lecture. This is not a comprehensive critical survey of
theliteraturetoacertaindate.Nordoesthematerialtouchuponallthe
topics with which issues about the self and self-consciousness have
important internal connections. Rather, the material develops, cumula-
tively, a few basic ideas about subjects and the first person, and applies
them to some classical and to some recent issues in the philosophy of
mind,epistemology,metaphysics,andthetheoryofintentionalcontent.
InthetitleofthisbookIborrowtheimageofthesubjectofconscious-
nessasthemirroroftheworldfromSchopenhauer,whoemployeditin
connection with what he called the pure subject of cognition. Though
pleasing inseveral respects, theimagecan alsomislead.Mirrors donot
usuallyreflectthemselves,whereasthesubjectispartoftheworldtobe
reflected.Iftheselecturesarecorrect,subjectsdopartially reflectthem-
selves. Perhaps it is good to keep in mind an image that in its nature
remindsusoftheever-presentdangersofparadox,ungroundedness,and
impossibilityinthisperenniallyfascinatingtopic.
Thechoiceofcoverillustrationforthisbookposedaproblem.While
thereiscertainlynodearthofattemptstodepicttheselfinWesternart,
Iwaslookingforsomethingthatwouldalsoillustratethevarietiesofself-