AAP and Deakin University One Day Workshop – Self-Knowledge: Occurrent Trends & Issues

AAP and Deakin University One Day Workshop – Self-Knowledge: Occurrent Trends & Issues

Deakin University, Friday, December 15, 2017.

Description: In philosophy, the problem of self-knowledge can be expressed in the question, “How does one know one’s own mind?”. In accordance with our everyday experiences, it seems entirely acceptable to assume that each of us has a rich inner life in which we experience a variety of thoughts and other mental states.

Indeed, philosophical tradition has long held that we generally have access to, or are able to learn the content of, our own minds immediately, and that our various judgements regarding these matters rests upon the basis of a genuine authority. If this is true, one has an epistemically privileged relationship to oneself which one cannot have in regard to another. The theses of immediacy, authority, and epistemic privilege have been mainstays of philosophical speculation, and establish a powerful asymmetry between the first- and third-person positions.

In recent times, however, the tide has surged against the traditional view, with a range of issues complicating any simple answer to the question of self-knowledge. This one-day workshop will critically explore a variety of responses to the question of self-knowledge, taking into consideration a number of recent challenges and trends. Can we justify claims of immediacy and epistemic advantage with Rationalism, or do inferentialist theorists undermine such claims? Are introspection or Transparency viable methods of coming to ‘know thyself’? Is coming to know a belief, desire, or intention realised in the same way?  How do these claims relate to the traditional theses of immediacy, authority, and epistemic privilege? And, crucially, what is the impact of the Analytic restriction to an ‘edited’ scope of mental states (e.g. “I believe that it is raining”)?

Speakers/Schedule:

9:00–9:15am Opening Words  

9:15–10:30am – Jordi Fernández (University of Adelaide) - ‘Self-Knowledge for Agency: A Transparent Approach’

10:30–10:45am – Morning Tea

10:45–11:45am – Ryan Cox (University of Sydney) – ‘Self-Knowledge and Made Up Minds’ 

11:45–12:00pm – Break 

12:00–1:00pm – Michael Mitchell (Deakin University) – ‘Self-Knowledge: Immediate? Inferential? Direct?’

1:00–2:00pm – Lunch (Catering provided)

2:00–3:00pm –Harriet Levenston (University of New South Wales) – 'Reasoning and Endorsement: Two Sides of the Same Coin?'

3:00–3:15pm – Afternoon Tea

3:15–4:15pm – Adam Andreotta (University of Western Australia) – ‘More than just a passing cognitive show: a reply to Gertler’ 

4:15–4:45pm – Closing remarks: Q and A and workshop summary 

Sponsor: Australasian Association of Philosophy Postgraduate Conference Fund, in association with Deakin University.

Contact: Please RSVP by Thursday, December 14, to (Michael Mitchell) [email protected]