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Oxford University Press, USA

The Opacity of Mind: An Integrative Theory of Self-Knowledge

The Opacity of Mind: An Integrative Theory of Self-Knowledge

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It is widely believed that people have privileged and authoritative access to their own thoughts, and many theories have been proposed to explain this supposed fact. The Opacity of Mind challenges the consensus view and subjects the theories in question to critical scrutiny, while showing that
they are not protected against the findings of cognitive science by belonging to a separate explanatory space. The book argues that our access to our own thoughts is almost always interpretive, grounded in perceptual awareness of our own circumstances and behavior, together with our own sensory
imagery (including inner speech). In fact our access to our own thoughts is no different in principle from our access to the thoughts of other people, utilizing the conceptual and inferential resources of the same mindreading faculty, and relying on many of the same sources of evidence. Peter
Carruthers proposes and defends the Interpretive Sensory-Access (ISA) theory of self-knowledge. This is supported through comprehensive examination of many different types of evidence from across cognitive science, integrating a diverse set of findings into a single well-articulated theory. One
outcome is that there are hardly any kinds of conscious thought. Another is that there is no such thing as conscious agency.

Written with Carruthers' usual clarity and directness, this book will be essential reading for philosophers interested in self-knowledge, consciousness, and related areas of philosophy. It will also be of vital interest to cognitive scientists, since it casts the existing data in a new theoretical
light. Moreover, the ISA theory makes many new predictions while also suggesting constraints and controls that should be placed on future experimental investigations of self-knowledge.


Author: Peter Carruthers
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 09/15/2013
Pages: 456
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780199685141

About the Author

Peter Carruthers is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland. He has published widely across different areas of philosophy of mind and cognitive science. His books include The Architecture of the Mind: Massive Modularity and the Flexibility of Thought (Oxford University Press, 2006),
Phenomenal Consciousness: A Naturalistic Theory (Cambridge University Press, 2000), and seven co-edited collections of original interdisciplinary essays.

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