Knowing and understanding other minds: on the role of communication

Naomi Eilan (University of Warwick)

Abstract Over the past decade or so there has been increasing interest, in both philosophy and in various branches of psychology, in the claim that we should appeal to various forms of social interaction in explaining our knowledge of other minds. This is contrasted with the view that our knowledge of other’s minds is based on observation plus theory. I will be setting out one version of the social interaction approach, the Communication Claim, which holds that particular forms of interpersonal communication have a foundational role to play in providing us with knowledge and understanding of others’ minds. In developing the Communication Claim, I will draw out its links with current debates, in both psychology and philosophy, about the structure of our knowledge of other persons’ minds, and the skills and capacities required for achieving such knowledge.