David Hume and the Problem of Other Minds (Continuum Studies in British Philosophy)

Waldow, Anik

Continuum Publishing Corporation（2011/12発売）

• 製本 Paperback:紙装版/ペーパーバック版／ページ数 218 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9781441123435
• DDC分類 190

Full Description

The problem of other minds has widely been considered as a special problem within the debate about scepticism. If one cannot be sure that there is a world existing independent ly of one's mind, how can we be sure that there are minds - minds which we cannot even experience the way we experience material objects? This book shows, through a detailed examination of David Hume's A Treatise of Human Nature, that these concerns are unfounded. By focusing on Hume's discussion of sympathy - the ability to connect with the mental contents of other persons - Anik Waldow demonstrates that belief in other minds can be justified by the same means as belief in material objects. The book thus not only provides the first large-scale treatment of the function of the belief in other minds within the Treatise, thereby adding a new dimension to Hume's realism, but also serves as an invaluable guide to the complexity of the problem of other minds and its various responses in contemporary debate.

Contents

Introduction; 1. Scepticism versus naturalism; 2. Conceiving minds; 3. The world and the other; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.