Mind

9 Pages 2131 Words

Other Minds

Can I know what another person is thinking or feeling? If so, how?

by Tom Nuttall (tutor: Anthony Rudd)

The problem of Other Minds is a true philosophical enigma. It is apt to
strike children with no philosophical education whatsoever, yet remains
intractable to many academics. Broadly speaking, the problem can be
divided into three questions. Firstly, how do I come to believe that there
are minds in the world other than my own? Secondly, how can I justify my
belief that there are minds in the world other than my own? Thirdly, what
can I state about the mental states of minds other than my own?. The
question we are dealing with here falls largely into the third category,
although of course issues relating to the other two will also be involved.


Firstly, it is imperative to assert that, in looking for ‘knowledge’, we
are not aiming for logical certainties - we are not aiming to show that
any propositions about other minds can be demonstrated with absolute
certainty equivalent to that of mathematical truths. Philosophy ever since
Descartes has tended to be defined by scepticism: either it aims to
produce sceptical theories or it aims to refute them. And sceptics tend
towards extremity in their doubts. It must be stated here and now that
there are not, and never can be, any theories that prove demonstratively
that other minds exist, or that I know others’ mental states. This is not
what should be aimed at in attempting to solve the problem. As Austin puts
it "To suppose that the question ‘How do I know that Tom is angry?’ is
meant to mean ‘How do I introspect Tom’s feelings?’ is simply barking up
the wrong gum-tree."

Most philosophers agree that their theories only bestow a greater or
lesser amount of probability onto statements about other minds (although
there are exceptions, e.g. Peter Strawson’s attempt to argue
transcendentally for the existence of other minds thro...