XII - Why are indexicals essential?
Abstract
Despite recent challenges, it is commonly held that certain indexical terms such as ‘I', ‘here’ and ‘now’ have a necessary or ‘essential’ role in certain kinds of action. I argue that this is correct, and I offer an explanation. A use of an indexical term of the kind in question connotes a specific relation between the thinking subject and the reference of the indexical. The mental representation of this relation has an epistemic feature that I call first-person redundancy. I show through a regress argument that a mental state of this kind is essential for common kinds of action, and perhaps for all actions.
Citation
Prosser , S J 2015 , ' XII - Why are indexicals essential? ' , Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society , vol. 115 , no. 3 pt 3 , pp. 211-233 . https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9264.2015.00392.x
Publication
Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
0066-7374Type
Journal article
Collections
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